


777 (Just A Little Piece of Heaven)

by DumbassIcarus



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Waverly Earp, Endgame Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Eventual description of violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Interrupting Wynonna Earp, Lesbian Nicole Haught, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Tags Are Hard, Wayhaught - Freeform, Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:42:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 38,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DumbassIcarus/pseuds/DumbassIcarus
Summary: Love and vulnerability can be a scary thing.orA fic I wrote as a gift for Amory, even though they said not to.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	1. Welcome Back to Purgatory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fuhrelise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuhrelise/gifts).



Nicole was never one to be vulnerable, it was how she coped. Fighting to survive until Nedley adopted her and they made an agreement to change her ways. She went to a private school where she would learn discipline. She attended that school all the way until her senior year of highschool, only after begging Nedley that she was ready to return to Purgatory. It had been almost six years since she had gone back there, she doubted anyone would recognize her. She had changed physically and mentally though she never did really unlearn her ways, she mostly learned how to not start fights anymore. 

“Alright, Haught. We are here,” Nedley said as he stopped the car. Nicole hummed her response as she got out of the car and grabbed her luggage from the trunk. As she followed Nedley to the house, she spotted something out of her eye.

“You never got rid of it?!” She exclaimed as she placed her luggage down and walked over to the covered motorcycle.

“Damn right I didn’t. That thing holds too much value to get rid of it,” He replied as he watched Nicole uncover the black motorcycle.

“Now that I can drive, I was thin-”

“Not a chance,” Nedley interrupted her, knowing exactly what she was about to ask. “You still haven’t changed a bit since you left.”

“Oh, come on Ned. She’s too much of a beaut to stay hidden like this,” Nicole pleaded as she ran her hand over the handles and looked at Nedley.

Nedley huffed and stayed silent for a while, contemplating the idea in his head. “Okay, fine. But! And I mean a big but…”

Nicole nodded and smiled at him.

“Get a helmet for that thing and you have to prove you can ride it,” He finished.

“I can do one of those things right now,” Nicole said as she mounted the bike.

“Not so fast, young lady,” Nedley warned, walking over. “You still have to put away your stuff, then we’ll see about you driving that motorcycle.”

“Oh alright,” She sighed, getting off the motorcycle and moved to grab her luggage again as Nedley opened the front door to the house. She carried her luggage all the way up the stairs and into her room. She dropped her luggage and then dropped on her bed. “Still comfortable as I remembered,” She spoke into the bed then rose to her feet to place her stuff away. She realized how much more she could place in the room now that she didn’t share it with someone else. That had given her an idea, after proving to Nedley that she could drive the motorcycle she would go into town. After finishing up, she headed downstairs and found Nedley in his office, presumably going over a case.

“I suppose you are done?” He said as he peered over the paper.

“Yeah,” Nicole beamed. “Now I'm ready to prove that I can drive that beauty.”

“Alright,” He mumbled, getting up to his feet and opening one of his drawers and grabbing the keys before they both walked outside. He uncovered the motorcycle, giving it a quick look over to make sure nothing seemed wrong with it. Once he was done, he patted the seat and looked at Nicole. “If you prove to actually know how to drive her, you must also buy yourself some protective armor jackets just in case,” He pointed his finger at her then at the motorcycle.

“Will do,” Nicole answered back, walking over to Nedley when he held out the keys and took them in her own hands. She mounted the motorcycle, placing one foot on the floor and the other on the rear foot rest, taking a deep breath before she put the key in the ignition and flipping on the ignition kill switch. She noticed it was low on fuel, but other than that it felt perfect.

“Woah, there hotshot. Anyone knows how to turn on a motorcycle,” Nedley chuckled, taking a few steps back. Nicole gave him a curt nod in response before she moved her left foot and shifted the pedal into first gear then used her right hand to twist the throttle, revving the engine to get it warmed up after being stationary for a long time before taking off into the street.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Nedley said out loud when Nicole turned the motorcycle around in a circle, a visible smirk as she did so.

“Told you I knew how to ride.” She rode back to where the motorcycle previously was.

“I could see that.” Nedley motioned to the middle of the street, “But do you have a license?”

Nicole took out her wallet and showed Nedley her ID. “Yeah. We all had to get them at that weird school,” She answered as she dismounted the motorcycle and placed her wallet back in her pocket.

“Fine, you can use it, but seriously buy a helmet and protective jackets.” Was all Nedley got out before Nicole pulled him in for a tight hug.

“You’re the best,” She answered, squeezing him tighter.

“While you're at it,” He paused, pulling away and looking at her. “You also might want to buy stuff for school tomorrow.”

“What now?”

“Yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck, “I forgot to tell you. You start school tomorrow.”

“That quick?” Nicole pulled away, shocked.

“School in Purgatory starts earlier than over there.”

“Well, I must head into town right now then.” She pointed at his watch, then pulled him in for another hug before she left with the motorcycle.

\------------

After making a quick pit stop at a gas station, then at the motorcyclists shop and buying the helmet and a protective jacket, immediately wearing it because it looked amazing. She stopped by Purgatory's mall to buy what she was going to need for tomorrow. The mall had changed since she was last there. She really hoped that they didn’t recognize her or otherwise she would need to look for somewhere else to shop, as they banned her from many stores. She was too wrapped up in admiring the mall or otherwise she would have seen the woman in front of her, accidentally crashing into her and holding them upright so they won’t fall.

“Watch where yo-” The woman stopped once she looked at her.

“Are you okay?” Nicole asked as she let go of the woman in front of her.

“Yeah… I’m fine,” The short woman replied after a while.

“I’m so sorry I crashed into you. I was distracted looking for a store.” Nicole examined the woman from head to toe, making sure she didn’t hurt her. 

“I-I’m fine,” The woman stuttered. “What sto-”

“Told you I’d be right out, Waverly,” A man interrupted the woman, stopping in his tracks when he saw Nicole and extended his hand to her. “Hey there, I’m Jeremy.”

“Nice to meet you, Jeremy,” Nicole answered as she gave him a firm handshake. “I must get going now.”

Jeremy looked over at Waverly as she left, noticing that Waverly was definitively checking her out. 

“What?” Waverly said when she noticed Jeremy staring at her.

“Who was that?” He asked smugly.

“Some woman who bumped into me,” Waverly shrugged. “Now did you find your toy.”

“First of all, it’s not a toy, it's a Doctor Who collectible.” He pointed at his Tardis, then carefully crossed his arms. “Second of all, just  _ a woman _ who bumped into you,” He continued with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Yes, just a woman,” Waverly rushed out, averting her face from Jeremy. “Who bumped into me.”

“Oh, I’m just teasing Waves,” He replied as he nudged her. “Where to next?”

“Do you still have enough money to spend at the arcade?” Waverly pointed at the arcade on the second floor.

“Would I even be me if I didn’t have spare cash for the arcade?” He joked.

“No,” Waverly laughed. “No, you wouldn’t.”

They both chuckled before they headed towards the escalator, both carefully stepping on it as they were afraid of missing the steps. Once they arrived at the top floor, they practically ran to the arcade and took out their cards to load them up with credits. They stood in line, patiently waiting for their turn to pay for their credits.

“Next customer!” The cashier motioned with his hand at Waverly once he finished helping Jeremy. “What would you like to do today?”

“I would like to add some credits, please,” Waverly beamed as she handed the cashier her arcade card.

“How much would you like to put?” The cashier asked as he swiped the card.

“Thirty dollars.”

“Cash or card?” The cashier tapped on the screen.

“Cash.” She handed the man the money.

“Alrighty then,” He replied, taking it and tapping the screen one more time leading to the cash register to open. He placed the money in the respective place before he finished her transaction, handing Waverly her card back along with a receipt. “You now have a hundred and twenty credits, enjoy.”

“Thank you.” Waverly joined Jeremy, who was standing near the Mario Kart machine.

“I bet you can’t win me on Mario Kart,” Jeremy challenged her when she was close enough to hear.

“Oh, you’re on Chetri,” Waverly retorted and sat in one of the open seats.

“Loser buys the next game.” Jeremy sat in the seat next to her and swiped his card. Waverly chose toad while Jeremy chose Princess Peach. They stayed silent as they concentrated on beating each other.

\------------

“Of course you would throw the stupid turtle shell,” Waverly grumbled as they sat down in the food court. She would’ve won if he hadn’t thrown that shell.

“You’re still hung up on that?” Jeremy chuckled.

“Yeah because that led to many bets and now I had to buy you food.” She motioned to the food in front of him.

“It’s not my fault you’re easy to beat at table hockey.”

“No, the only explanation is that you were cheating,” She huffed out.

“No, I was…” Jeremy abruptly stopped, leaning forward. “Isn’t that the woman who bumped into you?” He motioned with his head at a table.

“Yeah and?” Waverly asked.

“You like her, don’t you?” He playfully shoved her shoulder.

“Pfft.” Waverly shook her head to hide the blush blooming on her face, “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jeremy paused, sarcastically. “That you totally checked her out as she walked away.”

Waverly hid her face in her hands and shook her head, “No, I didn’t.”

“Well, that’s not what your blushing face is saying.” Jeremy placed a hand on her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, “It’s okay to have a crush on someone, Waves.”

“But not when they are way out of your league.”

“ _ Way out of your league _ ,” Jeremy scoffed. “Waverly, you’re the smartest and prettiest girl in school and I’m  _ not _ just saying that because you are my friend.”

“That doesn’t mean someone like her could have a crush on me.” Waverly peeked out from her hands and met Jeremy’s gaze.

“I swear you’re really smart, but very oblivious,” Jeremy chuckled as he pulled away. “You have boys and girls flirting with you at school.”

“They were just being nice,” Waverly shrugged her shoulders.

“Like I said, oblivious.” Jeremy motioned to her, then took a sip of his smoothie.

“You and Wynonna think anyone who’s nice to me is flirting.” Waverly motioned with her french fry, then plopped it into her mouth.

“Oh, fiddlesticks, she’s looking this way,” Jeremy rushed out, stealing a french fry from her and eating it. Waverly couldn’t make a comment on her stolen french fry as the redhead looked to be walking over to them. Waverly let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when the woman passed by them, throwing her trash into the bin and placing the tray on top, then entering a store. Jeremy began laughing after a moment, “Still in denial?”

“Not funny, Jeremy,” Waverly retorted, swatting his arm. “Not funny.”

“Oh, come on, I think I’m pretty hilarious.”

“Yeah, a  _ real _ comedian,” Waverly said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him.

“You think she’ll go to our school?” He took another sip of his smoothie.

“Probably,” She shrugged. “She didn’t look our age so she may not.”

“How much do you want to bet that she goes to our school?” Jeremy challenged, stealing yet another fry from her.

“I’m not betting and second of all.” She swatted his hand as he tried grabbing another fry, “Get your own fries.”

“But the stolen ones taste so much better, Waves,” He replied in mock sadness and put on his best puppy dog eyes.

“You could’ve just asked. I don’t actually mind buying you food.” 

“But stolen fries,” He repeated himself before he changed the subject. “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“You think we’ll have the same classes again?” She asked, opening her water bottle.

“I hope so. We’d dominate physics class just like we did chemistry,” He beamed, extending his fist towards her.

Waverly bumped her own against his, “Mr. Rightnar isn’t ready for this powerful duo.”

——————

Nicole got back home, struggling a bit with her bags. She had purchased a new backpack, notebooks, and a fountain pen because it looked cool and it wouldn’t be the first time she had used one. She’d lost her first one after letting someone borrow it, a rookie mistake on her part. She opened the door and walked in, passing by Nedley as he was cooking dinner in the kitchen.

“Jesus, you bought a lot of things there.” He placed down the spoon and rushed over to help Nicole.

“I did not,” She countered.

“I’m not even going to ask how you got home with these,” He said, motioning with his hand at all the bags.

“Honestly, I couldn’t resist buying saddlebags,” Nicole informed as she went up the stairs.

“I see you bought the jacket.”

“I didn’t just buy one.” She looked over her shoulder as she continued walking up the stairs, “On the way back I stopped there again and bought two more.”

“And what about the helmet?” He placed some bags into his free hand.

“I bought this beautiful one, but I left it on the bike.” She opened her bedroom door and placed the bags on her desk.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He placed the bags down on the desk then walked to the door, “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes so that should give you some time to put these things away.”

Nicole nodded and took out some items from one bag as Nedley closed the door. Apart from the usual school supply she had purchased, she had also bought some shoes and a couple of new clothing items. She had also bought other miscellaneous items that she found interesting, or that they’d look good to decorate her room a bit. One of them was a mug that looked deformed with the lettering ‘ _ I Flunked Anger Management _ ’. Which was true, she had flunked that course before and she found the mug hilarious. Nicole definitely intended to use it. She had taken a liking to coffee when she worked at a café. She had especially taken a liking to straight up espressos and the occasional lattes. She didn’t need to work, but she chose the job because she wanted to earn a bit of extra cash and it could prove to everyone that she had learned patience and control contrary to her flunking the anger management course. Once she had finished putting everything in its respective place, she went downstairs and went outside, grabbing the helmet to show Nedley.

“Look at her,” She said as she held up the helmet.

“You chose the Scorpion EXO?!” Nedley exclaimed as he walked over and examined the helmet with his own hands.

“Damn right I did.” Nicole smirked. She knew she had chosen a good helmet.

“Boy, am I jealous.” Nedley handed back the helmet, “That helmet has polycarbonate shelling, and it's visor is optically clear with an anti-scratch coating. Not to mention that it has speaker pockets and it somehow, with all the vents, keeps the noise level low.”

“I know, that’s why I bought it Nedley,” Nicole chuckled as she placed the helmet down in a chair in the living room.

“Okay, but enough of helmets. Are you excited about tomorrow?”

“A little. I mean, it’s good to be back, but I don’t even know what classes I have,” She said as she grabbed some plates to set the table.

“Oh, I have your schedule.” Nedley placed some pasta on a plate. “They sent it to me today in the morning.”

“You have it?” Nicole helped him by spooning in some sauce after he finished.

“Yeah, it's on the printer still. I forgot to hand it to you.” Nedley walked to the other plate and placed the remaining pasta on it.

“I’ll get it after we finish eating.” Nicole spooned the last of the sauce onto the plate and put the saucepan in the sink.

“I hope you haven’t gotten used to the food from the big city,” Nedley said as he sat down.

“You kidding me?” She replied, sitting down next to him. “Nothing tops your cooking.”

“That is comforting to hear,” Nedley beamed, picking up his cup. “Here’s to you being back.”

“Here’s to not being so much of a troublemaker as before.” Nicole raised her own cup.

“Hilarious,” Nedley countered.

“What I’m only promising to be as much trouble as I was before,” Nicole shrugged and smiled.

“Just please don’t make me bring you to the station,” Nedley exhaled, setting down his cup and grabbing his fork. “I already have enough on my plate dealing with the eldest Earp as it is.”

“I make no promises,” Nicole informed as she grabbed some pasta with her fork. “I really missed your cooking, though.”

“I picked up some new tricks while you were gone,” Nedley replied after he finished chewing his bite.

“Really now?” Nicole tilted her head, curious.

“It’s never too late to take a cooking class and learn new techniques.”

\------------

After she helped Nedley clean up their dishes, Nicole grabbed her schedule from the printer and walked up the stairs to her room. She had to make sure she had everything she might need in her backpack and go over her schedule. When she was in the comfort of her own room, she examined her schedule as she sat down at her desk.

“They really gave me an advanced math class as my first class of the day?” She complained out loud. She continued complaining about her classes and why her counselor would torture her with a math class out of all the other ones to make her attend in the morning. She hoped that whoever Mrs. Bunny was, that she was at least a compassionate person and allowed her to at least drink coffee in the class. Finally, giving up on complaining about her schedule to herself out loud, Nicole grabbed her amplifier and electric guitar from her closet, placing her amp next to her desk and plugging it in. She looked in her desk drawer for her new headphones and plugged them into the amp, then finished setting up her electric guitar. She had to re-tune the strings, praising herself as she successfully did it by ear. She placed her fingers on the strings and strummed, singly softly so Nedley wouldn’t hear her and make her do a rendition of ‘ _ Livin, On A Prayer _ ’.

“ _ Don't mind you running through my head all day _

_ Last time I took the bait, never been the same _

_ Never been want to some random I love _

_ Lord knows I'm better off when I sleep alone _ ”

\------------

Nicole groaned as she hit her alarm, turning it off and groaning still as she got out of bed. She went to her closet and picked out her outfit of the day, a black band t-shirt, ripped jeans, and her palladium boots. Then she hurried off to shower and change so she had enough time to enjoy eating breakfast with Nedley before she left.

“Good morning, Nedley,” She greeted as she entered the kitchen, heading over to the coffeepot and pouring some into her new mug.

“Good morning,” Nedley replied as he flipped the pancakes in the pan. “Hope you’re hungry, pancakes will be done in two minutes.”

“Ah, you know me so well,” Nicole cooed as she brought a hand up to her chest then took a sip of her coffee.

“Well kidd-” Nedley paused as he turned around with a stack of pancakes and began laughing. “You really made that a joke didn’t ya?”

“What?” She cocked an eyebrow and hid her smirk behind her cup.

“The mug, Haught. The mug,” He laughed, walking to the table and setting the stack of pancakes down.

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for inside jokes.” She shrugged, placing the mug down on the counter and opening the fridge to take out the maple syrup.

“Too bad you didn’t buy me one that said ‘ _ There’s a new sheriff in town _ ’.”

“You just gave me an idea.” She placed the syrup on the table while Nedley placed a small bowl of diced fruit in the middle of the table.

“You know,” He started as he sat down placing two empty plates on the table. “You have yet to make me one of your favorite fancy coffee drinks.”

“You mean a latte?” Nicole chuckled as she sat down.

“That’s what I said,” Nedley shrugged. “Don’t forget to get to school fifteen minutes before class starts so you have enough time to look for your classes,” He continued as he placed a bit of fruit on top of his pancake and poured syrup over it.

“What time does it even start?”

Nedley huffed and checked his watch, “You have about forty five-ish minutes.”

“Still didn’t answer my question.” Nicole cut a piece of her pancakes, scooping up a bit of fruit on the top.

“At eight o’ five,” Nedley replied, still staring at his watch. “I could drop you off before I head to the station if you want. I have enough time.”

“It’s okay, Ned. You must be busy down there anyway with the whole chief thing.” She waved her knife around.

“Careful.” Nedley pointed at the knife, “Alright, if you say so. Don’t think I don’t know that you’re just trying to show up to school in that thing.” He pointed at the window that showed the motorcycle.

“What? No?” Nicole retorted. “I’m just trying to show you I’m more mature.”

“Yeah and I’m the mayor of Purgatory,” He shot back. “Hurry up and finish your food if you want to make it to school and find a parking space.”

“Yes, sir.”

\------------

Nicole arrived at the school parking lot with twenty minutes to spare, searching for a parking space in the student parking lot. When she found one she quickly parked and dismounted the bike, grabbing and opening her backpack to grab her schedule. Her schedule thankfully listed the room number of her class, but not where it was located on campus. Nicole groaned and roamed the halls until she found the location of her classes. She entered a building, finding out it was the wrestling room and quickly left. She continued to roam, not asking for help from other students because she didn’t want to draw attention to herself. More attention that is, while she searched around she carried her helmet, wondering if she even had a locker as some kids stared at her. Thankfully, to her luck she found the girl she bumped into at the mall putting something in her locker while another woman leaned on the nearby locker. Nicole gave up and decided she should suck up her pride and ask her. While she looked at her schedule once more she heard a locker close. When she looked up, she saw the girl she bumped into pressed up on a locker with the other woman in front of her.

“Excuse me, Waverly was it?” She spoke as she stepped closer. The woman in front of Waverly resumed leaning on the locker again.

“Oh, hi there. Yep, that is my name,” Waverly awkwardly replied.

“I was wondering if you knew where Mrs. Bunny’s math class was?” Nicole glanced at her schedule again.

“M… M… Mrs. Bunny? A-Are…. Are you sure you want to go there?” Waverly clutched her books closer to her chest.

“Is something wrong with her?” Nicole raised an eyebrow and tilted her head.

“Don’t worry about it, Gingerspice. She just had a bad breakfast,” The other woman spoke and tapped Waverly’s head. “Isn’t that right, Baby Girl?”

“I didn’t mean Waverly. I meant Mrs. Bunny,” Nicole clarified.

“Waverly!” A woman interrupted them.

“Speak of the devil,” The blue-eyed woman mumbled as she motioned with her thumb to her right.

“How many times do I need to clarify to you. You must follow the dress code.” Mrs. Bunny pointed at Waverly and then turned around to Nicole, “And you? Your shirt has too much vulgarity! The both of you will have to change. Go to the locker room and change… And don’t be late for math!” She handed the blue-eyed woman something then walked away.

“Sounds like Mrs. Bunny had an awful morning,” Waverly spoke out after the math teacher was out of earshot.

“More like an awful life,” The blue-eyed woman retorted.

“Could you show me to the locker room?” Nicole asked as she looked at her watch.

“Sure,” Waverly replied with a small smile.

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy the stylish options,” The woman teased.

“Wynonna!” Waverly swatted her shoulder.

“What?” The woman who Nicole now could put a name to laughed, “They are.”

Waverly shook her head and began walking down the hallway, being followed by Nicole and Wynonna. Nicole opened the door as they exited the building and followed Waverly to the side of another building in the middle of the campus. Before Nicole could open the door for them, Wynonna grabbed her shoulder and shook her head as she raised a key. She walked to the door and opened it, holding it open as they walked in.

“Alright, you two change,” Wynonna said as she walked in and leaned on the door frame. Waverly shook her head and walked over to a bin and showed Nicole a shirt and a sweater.

“These are stylish alright,” Nicole mumbled, grabbing the sweater.

“We should change quickly. Mrs. Bunny is already mad and the last thing we need is detention on the first day of school,” Waverly replied as she grabbed a shirt her size and turned around to see Nicole lifting off her shirt, leather jacket already discarded on the bench. Wynonna smirked as she saw Waverly’s jaw slightly drop.

“Looks like you guys are going to need your privacy.” Wynonna locked the door and dropped the key on the floor. When the key fell, Waverly glanced over at the door before rushing to it when she realized what Wynonna just did.

“Wynonna unlock this door!” Waverly fought with the door handle as she yelled, “Wynonna, this isn’t a joke!”

“Did she just lock us in?” Nicole finished pulling the sweater over her head.

“Yep,” Waverly sighed.

“Why would she do that?” Nicole groaned as she looked at her watch, “Especially right now.”

“I-I don’t know,” Waverly stuttered, hoping her face didn’t show the blush creeping on her cheeks.

“What’s going on with you two?” Nicole cocked an eyebrow.

“Wynonna is mischievous.” Waverly fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, “But I may know someone who can get us out.”

“If I may.” Nicole pointed at the door behind Waverly.

“Oh, sorry,” Waverly mumbled shyly.

“Don’t apologize,” Nicole replied as she kneeled. “You weren’t the one who locked us in here.”

“Right,” Waverly whispered as Nicole looked at the door handle.

“I may be rusty with these, but I can get us out.” She took out her wallet and grabbed some pins from it.

“What are you doing?” Waverly asked as stared curiously at her.

“Picking the lock.” Nicole glanced at her over her shoulder before placing the pins in the keyhole, moving them as she did.

“You’re doing what now?”

“There it’s done.” Nicole rose to her feet and smiled at Waverly as she placed the pins back in her wallet.

“Where… H-How…” Waverly was confused and speechless.

Nicole shrugged and pointed at her, then at the shirt in her hand, “I think you should change fast if you still want to make it on time to class.”

“Right.” Waverly shook her head and put on the shirt as Nicole placed her leather jacket in her backpack.

“Come on, let’s go,” Nicole said, handing Waverly her books.

“Thank you.” Waverly grabbed the books and hugged them, “And thank you for getting us out.”

“Your girlfriend should stop pulling these kinds of pranks,” Nicole spoke as she put on her backpack and grabbed her helmet.

“Ew,” Waverly groaned. “Wynonna is my sister.”

“Then I’m sorry about your mischievous sister and for assuming.” Nicole walked over to the door and opened it.

“I… Oh… I-I,” Waverly stammered as she tried to speak.

“Now let’s get to math class before we get detention.” Nicole kneeled down and grabbed the key off the floor and handed it to Waverly as she trudged. Waverly locked the door once they were out, and they walked towards their math class.

“I’m bisexual,” Waverly rushed, breaking the silence.

“Thank you,” Nicole replied as she kept following Waverly.

“Thank you for what?” Waverly furrowed her brows.

“Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to tell me, a stranger.” Nicole grabbed the door handle and opened it, waiting for Waverly to go first.

“Oh.” Waverly internally face palmed, “I’m sorry about Wynonna’s little prank and if it made you feel uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” Nicole looked at her, “On the contrary, I’m used to  _ pranks _ like this.”

Waverly was about to reply, but they had arrived. “We are here,” She said as she opened the door. Nicole gave her a curt nod as she entered, Waverly walking in right behind her and headed to Mrs. Bunny and handing her the key.

“Wynonna dropped it again, didn’t she,” Mrs. Bunny groaned.

“No.” Waverly shook her head, “She gave it to me when she realized she was also going to be late for class.”

“Take a seat.” Mrs. Bunny motioned to the empty desk next to where Nicole sat down, the late bell ringing as she sat down. “Alright class, settle down. I’m Mrs. Bunny for those that didn’t know. On the board are the class rules, you must follow them.”

“No food or drink in class,” Nicole quietly groaned. Boy, was this class going to be hell for when she couldn’t sleep. Waverly glared at her sister from across the room, but her sister just smiled, looking at the board.

\------------

Waverly angrily spotted her sister and Jeremy sitting down at a table and angrily marched over there with her tray. Jeremy waved to her when he noticed her, and Wynonna smirked.

“How did it go?” Wynonna asked with a waggle of her eyebrows as her sister sat down next to Jeremy.

“Hey, Jeremy. How’s your day been?” Waverly ignored Wynonna.

“I-It’s been good?” Jeremy looked at both of them, “What did you do, Wynonna?”

“Me?!” Wynonna put a hand on her chest with an affronted look on her face, “I have done nothing wrong.”

“Yeah, and I’m the queen of freaking England, aren’t I?” Waverly shot back.

“Wynonna, what did you do?” Jeremy asked again.

“You told me about that Ginger Goddess who bumped into Waves and well… I played cupid,” Wynonna shrugged, picking up a chicken nugget and dipping it into ketchup.

Waverly scoffed and glared at her sister, “She locked us in the locker room.”

“Playing cupid,” Wynonna repeated in a matter-of-fact way.

“That’s not even remotely how cupid works,” Jeremey furrowed his brows at her, confused. “Cupid doesn’t go around locking people up to get them to be together, he shoots them with an arrow of love.”

“Ugh, fine, I was playing matchmaker,” Wynonna replied, waving a fry around as she spoke.

“You are lucky Nicole knows how to pick locks,” Waverly mumbled as she opened her bag of baby carrots.

“Wait, she did what now?” Jeremy dropped the apple slice in his hand.

“That’s how we got out.” Waverly shrugged and plopped a baby carrot in her mouth.

“And here I thought she was just a punk wannabe,” Wynonna chuckled. “Do you think she will be my friend?”

“Wynonna, no,” Waverly chastised her. “I don’t think she’ll be your friend after your little prank.”

“But it was a harmless prank,” Wynonna complained and pouted, crossing her arms.

“We have to work on your definition of harmless.” Jeremy shook his head and began lifting a bit of his shirt, “My bruise is still purple.”

“A prank goes wrong one time and somehow you’re a douche,” Wynonna murmured before she looked away from them and pointed at someone discreetly. “Ginger six o’clock.”

“Wynonna, no. I know what you are thinking and no.” Waverly pointed at her menacingly.

“I agree with Waverly,” Jeremy rushed out.

“Oh, come on, you guys are no fun,” Wynonna retorted and grabbed another chicken nugget. “Fine, I won’t do anything.”

“Thank you,” Waverly exhaled, relieved her sister was going to pull any more shenanigans.

“But don’t get mad when Shae over there gets to her first.” Wynonna pointed to where Shae sat and then opened up her juice box.

“Huh?” Waverly looked behind her and saw Shae call Nicole over to sit down.

Nicole sat down with Shae’s friend group and Waverly wondered if they had a class together. Waverly got up and sat next to her sister to see what Shae was doing, she was known for causing trouble. Waverly sat there quietly, looking at the other table as Wynonna and Jeremy talked about their teachers. A short while later, Nicole excused herself from the table and walked towards the library, even after Shae begged for her to stay and chat with them. Wynonna bumped her shoulder with Waverly.

“Hey, it looks like Gingerspice doesn’t want to hangout with Shae.” She motioned with her last chicken nugget before eating it.

“Shae zero. Waverly… One?” Jeremy chimed in.

“What no?” Waverly scoffed

“Oh, come on. She paired up with you for the ice breaker thing,” Wynonna retorted.

“That was only because I was the only one she knew and you probably pissed her off. That doesn’t mean she likes me.” Waverly hung her head, hiding her flushing face.

“She could’ve also asked anyone else, heck, even a campus supervisor to show her where her next three classes were located, but she found you and asked you.” Jeremy sided with Wynonna.

“Oh, she did now?” Wynonna smirked.

“Still means nothing. She was probably shy,” Waverly rushed out quickly, stuffing her face with the rest of her food from refraining to answer any more questions.

“I remain corrected,” Jeremy began with confidence. “Shae zero. Waverly one.”

To Waverly luck the bell rang, signifying that lunch had ended she quickly gathered her stuff and began walking to her next class, ignoring Jeremy’s pleas to wait for him. She quickly threw away her carton tray in the trash and rushed to her physics class.

\------------

Wynonna scowled before she opened the door to her English class. She scanned the room to see if she saw anyone familiar and sighed when she found no one. She sat down in the far back of the class to avoid being called on a lot, and it gave her the perfect coverage to sleep if she ever found the class so boring. The rest of her classmates seemed to know each other as they grouped up and began speaking together. She hoped that whoever sat down in the empty seat next to her wasn’t boring so she could have at least some fun in the future.

“We will begin after the late bell rings,” The teacher informed them from her desk. “I hope you are all excited about this class as much as I am.”

“I’m excited to get this over with,” Wynonna whispered. It didn’t take long for the late bell to ring, however. Someone walked in as it rang, but Wynonna couldn’t care less which dumbass was late, groaning when she realized that she sat next to the only empty desk in the classroom. She would usually be happy to not have to be seated next to anyone, but someone next to her lightly tapped her shoulder.

“Is it alright if I sit next to you?” Nicole asked, motioning to the empty desk.

“Hey there, Red,” Wynonna greeted, happy it was Nicole and not someone else. “It’s the only seat available, so go ahead.”

“Don’t call me that and alright,” Nicole whispered her reply as the teacher began going over the same speech she’d heard from every other teacher she’s had.

“So, no hard feelings?” Wynonna whispered, looking at Nicole.

“Hard feelings?” Nicole shot her a confused look before turning back to face the teacher.

“You know,” Wynonna paused and continued at Nicole’s head shake. “The thing from this morning?”

“Oh, that.” Nicole looked at her again before resuming to look at the teacher, “You have nothing to worry about.”

Wynonna couldn’t read Nicole’s expression, or her tone. Was she mad and plotting revenge, or was the redhead okay? Was Waverly right? Had her prank gone too far? Wynonna was stopped from her thoughts as the teacher called out her name.

“Wynonna, are you paying attention!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” She answered back, sarcastically.

“Then tell me what I was going over,” The teacher demanded.

“How we shouldn’t talk when you’re talking in the middle of the lecture,” Wynonna proudly answered.

“Good. Now back to what I was talking about..” Wynonna zoned out the teacher as she droned on about the class rules and her grading rubric. She couldn’t wait to tell her sister that the redhead was in her class.


	2. Beginnings of a Group Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

A week had passed, and the teacher revealed their true colors. They had given up on trying to seem nice to their students, the novelty of the new year completely worn off. Nicole finally knew exactly where her classes were located and stopped needing the help from Waverly to get to them. Sure, it took a learning curve after accidentally trying to get to her class by herself once and accidentally entering the wrong classroom, but she had finally gotten used to her surroundings. Wynonna and Jeremy kept asking Waverly about her interactions with Nicole, as Nicole would only talk to her more than she did with others who got just a few sentences out of the redhead. Waverly chalking it up to her being nice because she felt guilty for bumping into her at the mall.

“Seriously baby girl, give yourself more credit,” Wynonna complained as she walked with Waverly to her locker.

“And you seriously have to stop thinking people are flirting with me when they are being nice,” She shot back.

“Well, someone has to point it out to you,” Wynonna scoffed, handing Waverly her textbook and opened up her locker.

“She just feels guilty over bumping into me at the mall, that’s about it.” Waverly handed Wynonna her book back when she opened it.

“Well, we will see about that when Mrs. Bunny assigns the group project and tells us to look for partners.” Wynonna grabbed a different textbook from her locker, closing it and speeding away.

“Wynonna, wait!” Waverly cried out after her, “What does that mean!”

Wynonna stopped at the end of the hall and smirked once again before she disappeared, turning the corner. Waverly groaned as she opened her own locker and grabbed her math textbook, shaking her head when she closed it. Just what did her sister mean by group project? Waverly covered her face with her free hand, dropping it when she concluded that her sister was pulling her leg again. She entered Mrs. Bunny’s classroom and sat down, rolling her eyes when Wynonna gave her two thumbs up from the other end of the classroom.

“Settle down!” Mrs. Bunny yelled, “Today I’m assigning a group project.”

Waverly shot a look at Wynonna, who smirked when she met Waverly’s gaze.

“You’ll work in groups of two,” Mrs. Bunny paused and examined the room. “You may choose who you work with for this project. You also have the option of working alone if you wish. For this project you’ll present an important math figure and why their work is useful to us in this class. Just to be clear, this isn’t a biography you must explain why their formula or math reasoning is useful to us. I’ll give you a paper with more details and expectations tomorrow, but for right now here are the topics I want you to consider. I’ll give you five minutes to decide if you will work alone or with a partner. Once you’ve decided, come up to me and tell me so I can write who is working with who. And to give you a bit of some starting points to help you choose the mathematical figure for this assignment. This is worth a lot of points, so choose wisely.”

Waverly looked once again at her sister, hoping she would partner up with her. But to her luck, Wynonna just smiled and shook her head, walking to another student. Waverly debated as she looked around the room if she should work alone or if she should choose someone to work with.

“Hey, Waverly?” A voice broke her out of her thoughts.

“Hmm,” She hummed back in response and turned to face the person who asked her, a small gasp escaping her lips when she realized Nicole called her.

“Would you like to work together?” Nicole asked, a little hesitant.

“I… uh… Yes,” Waverly stammered, trying to hide the blush on her cheeks. God, she cursed Wynonna for being right. Nicole just wanted to work with her because she heard the rumors of her being extremely smart, right? That seemed to be the logical answer.

“You could work with someone else if you like. I can do this project by myself if you feel uncomfortable working with the odd new kid in school.” Nicole internally cursed herself. God why did she sound shy around Waverly, her friend.

“No.” Waverly shook her head rapidly when she realized how that must have come off. “I would like to work with you, and you’re not the odd new kid in school per se. But you can work by yourself if you don’t actually want to be partnered up with me. I’m smart, but mathematical figures are out of my depth, I really only ever understand the for-”

“Waverly,” Nicole interrupted her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Breathe, don’t pass out on me. I know a lot about mathematical figures, I can handle their biography and you can help me understand how their formula or reasoning and why it’s important to learn. Math formulas are a puzzle to me.”

Waverly took a deep breath, gathering herself before she spoke. “Partners then?” She extended her hand towards her.

“Partners.” Nicole shook her hand and smiled. “I’ll go inform Mrs. Bunny.”

Waverly face palmed when Nicole stood in line by Mrs. Bunny’s desk. Wynonna rushed to sit down next to her, laughing as she did.

“I hate to say it, but… I told you so,” She teased.

“Shut up. How did you even know we were having a group project?” Waverly turned in her chair to face her sister.

“Oh, a little birdie told me,” Wynonna said with a waggle of her eyebrows.

“Ew,” Waverly groaned. “Is that what you are calling your hook ups?”

“Maybe? But that’s not the point,” Wynonna countered. “The point is, I’m twenty bucks richer.”

“What the hell did you do?”

“Made a bet with Jeremy, which he lost of course,” Wynonna proudly beamed. “Guess his little AP psychology class doesn’t actually teach him anything about human behaviour.”

“Hey that class was very insightful,” Waverly admitted. “You learn a lot in that class.”

“And yet you still don’t know when someone is flirting with you,” Wynonna teased and shot to her feet. “That’s my cue to leave.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly loudly whispered after her when she saw Nicole making her way back.

“Does she want to work with you?” Nicole asked as she rounded her desk.

“Uh…” Waverly fidgeted with her hands, “No, she was just telling me about her partner for this project.”

“Hmm.” Nicole nodded and began writing names of famous mathematicians, “Here’s all the mathematicians I know of.”

“We should do Pythagoras.” Waverly pushed back the paper towards Nicole, her finger pointing on Pythagoras’ name.

“Because he is the easiest one to do?” Nicole teased.

“I-I no.. that’s not… H-He was very smart and his formula is very important because we use it in many other things we don’t know about,” Waverly stammered as she rushed out her words, her face flushing as she did.

“Relax,” Nicole lightly chuckled. “I’m only joking.”

“Oh,” Waverly whispered. “Alright then since we figured out on who we are working on. Next thing is to figure out how we will do the project after school.”

“The library is open after school all the way until five.” Nicole remembered seeing a sign on the library door. It was mostly opened for people who need tutoring, but they allowed people to work there quietly.

“Oh yeah,” Waverly said, lifting a hand to her chin. “That’s a good place now that I think of it. We could use the help of the librarian to find more information.”

“See you after school then? To sort out a plan.”

“Yes,” Waverly beamed as the bell rang, quickly turning her attention to putting her things in her backpack to avert the blush on her face from Nicole. But to her luck her sister saw it and she knew that wouldn’t hear the end of it.

——————

“So, you and the redhead?” Wynonna teased with a smirk on her lips.

“Shut up,” Waverly groaned as she sat down at their now usual table.

“What did I miss?” Jeremy asked as he traded the nuggets from his plate with Wynonna’s vegetables and fruit.

“Our Ginger Goddess asked Waverly here to be her partner for a project. And get this,” Wynonna paused and put a finger in the air, dramatizing her point. “We had the option to work by ourselves, and the redhead still asked her to be her partner.”

“No way!” Jeremy exclaimed, then it turned into a groan as he pulled out his wallet and handed twenty dollars to Wynonna.

“I thought you were joking about making a bet!”

“Hey! Mama doesn’t play with her bets,” Wynonna countered.

“Please don’t call yourself that ever again.” Waverly cringed and shook her head, “It’s almost as bad as when you called yourself Aphrodite.” Waverly gagged and Jeremy laughed.

“And I’ll do it again,” Wynonna huffed out as she crossed her arms and looked around. She abruptly cupped her hands around her mouth. Waverly noticed before it was too late. 

“Hey Ginger Bitch!” Wynonna yelled out and then pointed at Nicole, “Yes, you! Get over here!”

Waverly choked on her juice, Jeremy rubbing her back as she coughed. Wynonna laughed at her sister as Nicole made her way to them with a confused look on her face.

“You…  _ yelled _ after me?” Nicole asked once she stood in front of the table.

“Sit down and eat lunch with us, you sexy bitch.” Wynonna motioned to the seat next to her that was in front of Waverly.

“I actually had different plans.” Nicole hadn’t lied to them, she had already a destination in mind.

“Let me guess,” Wynonna replied, scratching her temple then motioning with her thumb to another table. “That one girl with daggers for eyes?”

Nicole looked over to the direction Wynonna motioned to and shook her head, “No, not her. Not Shae. I had plans to help the librarian, she lets me eat my lunch there.”

“What!” Jeremy yelped and crossed his arms, “That’s not fair. Last time I helped her, she made me eat my lunch outside!”

“What can I say,” Nicole shrugged. “She’s picky.”

“Nope, not that red,” Wynonna retorted in a low menacing voice, pointing at her with a juice box in hand. “You have secrets.”

Nicole didn’t reply and walked towards the library, leaving behind an intrigued Wynonna, a confused Waverly, and an offended Jeremy.

“If you don’t date her, I will,” Wynonna blurted out once Nicole was out of earshot.

“Wynonna!” Waverly kicked her sister in the shin. “She’s just my friend, nothing more.”

“Yeah, and I’m the queen of England.”

\------------

Nicole rushed to the library after school. While she waited for Waverly, she greeted the librarian, then offered to help her place the books back on their respective shelves. Nicole loved helping the librarian. Something about her made her feel at ease. It could be she looked like someone she could trust or that she gave the same feelings she felt when she met Nedley. Nicole had placed a good portion of the books back with her headphones in, tuning out the world. So when someone tapped on her shoulder, it startled her, accidentally knocking off books out of the cart. She kneeled down to pick up the books, taking off her headphones with one hand while the other one grabbed one book off the floor.

“I’m sorry.” Waverly joined her, eyes never leaving Nicole’s face. She hadn’t noticed she had accidently grabbed Nicole’s hand and not a book. Waverly quickly let go and looked down, her face beat red with embarrassment. “I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t uh.. Mean to… and for being late. I’m never late, always punctual, but when you have a sister like Wynonna you never kn-.”

“It’s alright,” Nicole replied. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she stood up and placed the book in her hands on the cart. “It looks like Wynonna can be a handful.”

“Yeah,” Waverly whispered, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Can you find us a place to sit while I finish this up quickly? I promise it won’t take more than…” Nicole paused and examined the cart, “Ten minutes tops.”

“Yes, tops.” Waverly absentmindedly replied, not having processed both her response.

“Huh?”

“I-I… mean, yes. I’ll go find us a seat… Two seats.. One for me and one for you,” Waverly rushed out and left before she could embarrass herself even more. Her heart dropped a little when she heard Nicole’s quiet laughter and the sound of the cart moving. She walked to the corner of the library, it was a quiet corner. She felt proud of her choice as the library was a bit noisy, but here in the corner it all sounded muffled. Waverly sat down in one chair and took out her things. She looked up when she heard someone sit on the beanbag in front of her.

“I knew you would choose the quietest place in the library,” Nicole spoke as she placed down her helmet and backpack.

“I thought it was kind of noisy today.” Waverly motioned around them. “Wait… that was fast.”

“What was fast?”

“It took you less than five minutes to put all those books back.” It impressed Waverly. Had Nicole memorized the library?

“Oh, I didn’t finish,” Nicole shrugged. “The librarian saw us and told me to leave the rest to her, even after I insisted that I could finish.”

“That’s kind of her.” Waverly smiled and opened up a notebook. 

They spent the next hour discussing the topics that Mrs. Bunny told them to consider and jot down some of the main ideas for each of them. Nicole taunted Waverly here and there, like a friendly teasing, causing Waverly to groan at some of them. The librarian interrupted them, telling them that the library was closing in thirty minutes. Soon, they fell into a comfortable silence as they wrote some dabbles expanding on what the main ideas that they had already written down. Waverly seemed on edge from the beginning, but now she was smiling as she wrote.

“The library is closing real soon,” Nicole said, breaking the silence. “We should get going.”

“Oh, right,” Waverly mumbled and looked at the clock.

“Is Wynonna taking you home?” Nicole asked, putting her stuff back inside her backpack.

“I don’t know,” Waverly mumbled.

“Oh?” Nicole stopped and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “Since I was the one that suggested meeting at the library, how about I take you home?”

Nicole seemed sincere and embarrassed that she had kept Waverly longer than what they needed. Waverly could have sworn that she saw Nicole blush. Waverly was not used to the snarky teasing that Nicole had put her through, it was unfamiliar territory she had never wandered through with anyone. Her sister could be right and this was Nicole’s way of flirting or she was right and that’s just Nicole being nice, right?

“Waverly?” Nicole snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Oh, uh… let me text my sister to make sure. I don’t want to bother you.” Waverly took out her phone and searched for her sister’s contact information.

“I’m the one who invited you and it would be rude of me not to give you a ride home.”

“You have a point there. Let me just send her a text.” Waverly found her sister’s phone number and sent her a quick message. In true Wynonna fashion, she sent her a slew of suggestive emojis and a message reading ‘ _ Angel has fallen to temptation _ ’.

“A quick question,” Nicole started, picking up her helmet and holding it out in front of her. “Does this fit you?”

“What now?” Waverly’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Does this helmet fit you?” Nicole handed her the helmet.

“Why?” Waverly eyed the helmet in her hands.

“You don’t know, do you?” Nicole tilted her head to the side.

“Know what?”

“That I drive a motorcycle. Everyone can’t shut up about it,” Nicole informed as she threw her backpack on her shoulder.

“Excuse me, a what now?” Waverly gasped.

“It’s okay if you’re scared, I can get you a taxi or something. I’ll totally understand if you don’t want to get a ride home with me,” Nicole spoke as she slowly started walking towards the door.

“I.. no… I’ll go,” Waverly stammered. She should have never listened to Wynonna. Her sister’s words echoed back to her, causing her to blush.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to,” Nicole insisted, placing a hand on Waverly’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“No, I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before.” Waverly smiled at Nicole and felt disappointed when she let go of her shoulder.

“Try on the helmet.” Nicole pointed at the helmet that was still in her hands, “If it doesn’t fit, I have another one in the saddlebag.”

Waverly nodded and looked at the helmet. It wasn’t hard to put on, right? Apparently it was, Waverly couldn’t get it on. Nicole laughed and shook her head, walking to grab the helmet and holding it at an angle so that Waverly could stick her head through. Waverly was thankful that the helmet covered the crimson red on her cheeks.

“Is it a loose, tight, or good fit?” Nicole asked, eyes staring at Waverly’s.

Waverly felt like she was put in a spotlight with how intense Nicole’s gaze felt on her. “It’s good,” She replied, taking off the helmet.

“Good. After you.” Nicole opened the door and motioned for Waverly to go first. Waverly gave her a small smile as she passed Nicole. Nicole waved her goodbye to the librarian and walked out of the building. They walked in silence towards the student parking lot until Waverly’s curiosity got the best of her.

“Who taught you how to ride a motorcycle?” She asked as she played with the visor of the helmet.

“My ex,” Nicole answered as she opened the saddlebag and took out the extra helmet and placed her backpack inside.

“Who lets a boy have a motorcycle at such a young age,” Waverly blurted out.

“It was a girl and her parents bought it for her.” Nicole let out a sad chuckle, “She quickly learned to do tricks on her bike and made her parents regret their choice.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to intrude.” Waverly felt like she had put her foot in her mouth.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nicole dismissed with her hand and put on the helmet. “It’s in the past.”

“Okay, but I’m sorry if I brought up any unwanted memories.” Waverly put on the helmet how Nicole had just taught her and put down the visor she had left open.

“Don’t worry about it, Cutie,” Nicole said, mounting the bike. “Hop on.”

Waverly’s eyes widened as she stared at the motorcycle for a moment before she mounted the bike and sat down behind Nicole, trying her best not to sit too close.

“Scoot in more,” Nicole informed and looked at where Waverly’s feet laid. “And you can put your feet on the rear foot pegs.”

Waverly nodded and moved, placing her feet on the pegs and put her hands on the sides, grabbing the seat.

“You can hold on to me, you know,” Nicole said in between laughs.

“H-Hold you?”

“Yes, think of it as if you were to hug someone from behind.” Nicole grabbed one of her hands and wrapped it around her torso, “Now try it with your other arm.”

“Oh,” Waverly whispered and placed her other arm around Nicole, causing her to move a bit closer to the redhead.

“Yeah, just like that.”

Waverly’s brain short-circuited at Nicole's low tone.

“Don’t be afraid to grab on as tightly as you want.” Nicole kicked off the side stand and pulled out her phone, “Before we go, can you type in your address? It will be a bit hard to hear you telling me directions over the sound of the wind.”

Waverly typed in her address and handed back the phone to Nicole. She couldn’t see what Nicole was doing for a while until she heard a muffled beeping coming from Nicole’s helmet.

“Your helmet has bluetooth?”

“Cool isn’t,” Nicole replied as she started the motorcycle. “I’m going to go slow at first so you can get used to the force and wind before I reach the speed limit. If at any point you want me to pull over and get you a taxi, tell me and if I can’t hear you tap me to get my attention.”

“Alright.” Waverly put her hands around Nicole's torso as she slowly started driving out of the parking lot. Once they reached the stop sign in front of the school, Nicole looked over her shoulder at Waverly, asking silently if she was okay. Waverly nodded and Nicole increased the speed. Waverly subconsciously hugged Nicole tighter, feeling safer as she did. She looked around as they rode on the motorcycle through the highway. Something about the pinkish sky mixed with the lights seemed like something out of a painting.

“Wow,” Waverly said in awe. Nicole must have heard her as she felt her body shake slightly, her laughter muffled by the wind. Waverly squeezed Nicole tighter when she leaned on the motorcycle, switching lanes, and moved towards the exit.

“We are almost there,” Nicole informed her over her shoulder.

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, in about five minutes.” Nicole briefly glanced at the traffic light, then back at Waverly. It seemed like she was going to say something, but was cut off when the car in front of her started moving. Nicole had been accurate. They arrived in front of her house in five minutes and Nicole kicked out the side stand so Waverly could easily dismount the motorcycle.

“Thank you for the ride home.” Waverly handed back the helmet to Nicole and waited for Nicole to place it in the saddlebag.

“It’s no big deal really,” Nicole replied, a bit distracted as she closed up the saddlebag. Waverly didn’t know what else to say, so she turned around and started walking towards her front door.

“Wait!” Nicole uttered, causing Waverly to turn around, “Let me walk you to your front door.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I can’t ride off if I don’t make sure that you get inside safely.” Nicole scratched the back of her neck with her free hand, “Wouldn’t want the other Earp to hang me.”

Waverly chuckled as Nicole joined her at her side.

“What?” Nicole chuckled, “They have warned me not to mess with the older Earp.”

“She’s not that bad.” Waverly shook her head.

“Well, that’s not what half the school has to say in response to your sister’s antics.”

“Hey!” Waverly playfully hit Nicole, “Some of them deserved it.”

“Oh, really now?” Nicole smirked at her.

“Yeah,” Waverly continued when they reached the front door. “They were the typical mean girls and Wynonna only taught them a lesson.”

“Is that what we are calling total humiliation?” Nicole teased.

“What can I say, Aphrodite is a nasty woman,” Waverly snickered, pressing the doorbell. Her snicker didn’t last long as her eyes dropped to Nicole’s lips. The sound that came from inside distracted Nicole, but something slowly dragged Waverly forward. A sudden urge to kiss Nicole took over Waverly’s mind.

“Waverly, your ho-” Wynonna’s words were cut short when she noticed Nicole standing next to Waverly, “Didn’t expect you to walk my sister up to the front door, Haught.”

“It would have been rude to leave her by herself if no one was home, wouldn’t it?” Nicole rebutted.

“Thanks again for the ride and for walking me to my door. You didn’t have to,” Waverly spoke out.

“No problem. See you tomorrow, Waverly,” Nicole said as she walked backwards and turned around, putting on her helmet and waving one last goodbye before she sped off the driveway.

“I knew it!” Wynonna beamed, “The rumors were true.”

“Rumors?” Waverly stated puzzlingly at her sister.

“Of her driving a bitchin’ motorcycle,” Wynonna replied with a scoff.

“Her helmet has Bluetooth capabilities,” Waverly beamed.

“What are her other capabilities?” Wynonna smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Well, she knows a lot about Pythagoras.” Waverly placed a hand on her chin as she thought back to their time in the library, the innuendo completely going over her head.

“Jesus Christ, you are no fun,” Wynonna groaned and walked inside the house.

——————

The school day had gone fast before she knew it. Nicole was in English, taking out her notebook as the teacher instructed them to be ready to take notes after the late bell rang. Wynonna walked in seconds before the bell rang.

“Hey there, Naughty Haughty,” She greeted Nicole as she sat down.

Nicole grunted her response, paying more attention to the teacher’s lecture than to Wynonna. The teacher summarized what they were going to cover and a description of the work they were going to do after the lecture was done. There was a moment of silence as the teacher tried to find her clicker to go to the next slide.

“How was your date with my sister yesterday?”

Nicole choked on air. Why the hell did Wynonna think that? She briefly closed her eyes, “What are you talking about?”

“You know the little library date,” Wynonna stated cheerily, a little too cheerily for Nicole’s liking.

“It wasn’t a date. We were simply working on some of the main ideas for the project,” Nicole replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Yeah alright, but me and Jer-Bear have bets on when you are going to ask her out.”

“You have a what now?” Nicole hissed. If there was something that pushed Nicole’s buttons was people making assumptions about her life, but especially it pissed her off that Wynonna had placed money on it.

Wynonna was caught off guard by Nicole’s tone, but that didn’t make her back down. “Oh, come on. Don’t act so tough. I know you have a soft spot for my sister. I’ve seen no one hold your attention like she does. Hell, I don’t even get a fraction of the attention she gets and I’m smoking hot. Like have you seen my ass?.”

“Your ass  _ is _ top shelf,” Nicole shrugged.

“Take me out on a date first, Ginger Goddess.” Wynonna teased.

“Don’t make bets on my life,” Nicole scowled, returning to the topic at hand and leveling a piercing glare at her.

Wynonna recognized Nicole’s defensive stance and backed down, “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to offend. I was joking around.”

“You have poorly written jokes.”

Wynonna was about to make a sarcastic response when the teacher resumed talking about the lecture, having found the clicker. They spent the rest of the class in silence. The teacher finished her lecture fifteen minutes early, giving Nicole time to start on some pages of homework. It was their last class of the day and Nicole was glad about it. She packed up her things quickly and rushed out of the room, trying to avoid any more awkward conversations with Wynonna, only to bump into someone as they walked in.

“Hey! Watch where you’re-oh… Nicole!” Waverly looked like she was ready to fight whoever had bumped into her before realizing who it was.

“Sorry for bumping to you… again.” Nicole gave her a sheepish smile.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, I just have a promise to meet up with my adoptive father,” Nicole rushed out.

“Oh, sorry,” Waverly whispered as she moved aside.

Nicole grinned and noticed the slight blush on Waverly’s face. Sure, she had teased her in math class and some of her jokes bordered on flirtatious. Nicole had seen Waverly’s reaction when Wynonna and Jeremy looked like they were teasing her, and it usually put the same blush on Waverly’s face, but she would only see that reaction when she would pass by the trio.

“Hey there, Babygirl, has Ginger Spice been entertaining you for me?” Wynonna called out from the back of Nicole. Waverly and Nicole jumped slightly at her sudden arrival. Wynonna sent Nicole a smirk. Waverly glanced between the two.

“Don’t look at me. I still don’t condone her pet names,” Nicole informed Waverly.

“We’re Friends, right? So why not?” Wynonna playfully slapped Nicole’s ass.

“Could you not?” Nicole hissed out. She was about to scold Wynonna on keeping her hands to herself when Waverly spoke out.

“Nicole?” Waverly asked, a hint of confusion and nervousness in her tone. “H-How… We should meet again… you know,” She stammered, a visible blush on her face. “For the math project.”

Nicole hummed her response and nodded her head.

“So…” Waverly began taking out something from her back pocket, “Can I give you my phone number?”

Nicole’s eyes slightly widened at that. She looked at Wynonna, clearly having a good time. When she regained her composure, Nicole nodded and handed over her phone. They typed their phone numbers in each other’s phone as Wynonna walked out of the classroom.

“I’m heading to the car, Babygirl.”

“Wait! I’ll go with you,” Waverly called out over her shoulder.

“Then you better hurry your ass up,” Wynonna walked backwards as she spoke.

Waverly huffed at her sister’s impatience and handed back the phone to Nicole, “Text me when you’re free.” Waverly went beet red, “F-Free to do the project.”

“Got it, dude.” Nicole internally cringed. Dude, really? Why had she used that word? She could have just said Waverly’s name, but no Wynonna just had to get inside her head, didn’t she?

“Okay?” Waverly eyed her with a dumbfounded expression, “See you later?”

Nicole shook her head, opting to not embarrass herself even more than she already did. Waverly stared at her and rocked back and forth for a moment until she realized she had to go before she turned around and ran after her sister. Nicole watched as she left, the undertones of a feeling that she hadn’t experienced in a long time slowly bubbling up.

Today had not gone how she wanted, but somehow she wasn’t mad.

\-- -- -- --

As soon as Nicole made it home, she sent a message to Waverly.

**Unknown Number:** _Hey Waves_

To Nicole’s surprise, Waverly replies fast, replying a minute later.

**Waves:** _Nicole, I assume?_

Something made Nicole forget that they were working on a school project, though Waverly seemed more professional over text message, but that would not stop Nicole from being herself.

**Nicole:** _The one and only_

She could imagine Waverly rolling her eyes at her message as the typing bubble appeared. They ended up texting back and forth for an hour, never talking about the project. Nothing about their conversation was remotely productive towards their project, but Nicole smiled at their conversation. Something in her became selfish, never wanting their conversation to end.

\------------

Nicole was flirting with her, right? That is what was happening, right? It wasn’t the first time it seemed that Nicole was flirting, but this time it seemed like she wasn’t joking around. By now, everyone in school knew that Nicole liked girls. She had dated no one per se, but news about flings spread fast, though they didn’t specify with who. It wouldn’t be a weird coincidence that Nicole’s teasing and slight snarkiness was her way of expressing her affection. But that didn’t mean it was easier for Waverly to wrap her head around the possibility that Nicole might actually be flirting with her. Waverly’s mind came up with two possibilities. Her classmate was just simply teasing, and that was all of it, or her classmate has been pretending to like her to get a probable rise out of her. Though the second outcome seemed less likely to be true, as she continued to talk with Nicole. She’d talked to Jeremy about it, but he didn’t really know how to respond most of the time. Jeremy admitted to the fact that Nicole was charming, but that he didn’t know enough about her to even make an assumption on their interactions. Waverly knows she has an overactive imagination at times and decided that she might be reading into the situation wrong and, agreeing with Jeremy, that Nicole was just charming and it was quite possible that nothing was actually happening.

Waverly hoped that wasn’t the case, and that nothing had changed. She didn’t like Nicole, obviously, even if she did look  _ very _ attractive. That would just be absurd, weird, and totally ridiculous. There were too many complications to even consider it. For one, her aunt Gus wouldn’t approve of her dating someone who rides a motorcycle as their primary choice of transportation and wouldn’t let her out of the house if she found out. She was already even more overprotective when she overheard Wynonna and her talk about her motorcycle after Nicole dropped her off. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that after they finished Mrs. Bunny’s project that everything would return to normal and Waverly would stop thinking about it.

**Nicole:** _Hey there Waves_

 **Nicole:** _Do you want to find the time to finish up this math project?_

Waverly’s phone buzzed next to her and though she was quick to see what Nicole had sent, that was normal. You can get excited over one of your friends sending you a text message. Plus, like she had told herself earlier, once they finished the project everything would go back to normal.

**Waves:** _Yeah_

 **Nicole:** _Are you free this weekend?_

 **Waves:** _Yeah. You want to do this at your house?_

Waverly had hit the send button before she could even register what she had typed out. It was dangerous territory, especially since Nicole had seemed to invade her mind more often than not, but it was too late the message had already been delivered. To her surprise, Nicole easily agreed, without making a teasing or snarky comment as they decided on the time. Nicole seemed to be a bit more reserved, and Waverly somehow almost missed her teasing and the way she had gained a bit of confidence to make her own comebacks. She quickly shut the thought down, reminding herself that everything would be back to normal once they finished the project. All of Nicole’s charm and attractiveness would disappear.

——————

Nicole rushed to clean her room thoroughly before Waverly arrived. Not rushing to clean her room as in throwing her dirty clothes in her laundry basket and tossing it in the closet and shoving things under the bed. She made sure that her room was presentable and tidy, leaving some of her knickknacks on her desk. Nicole was in the middle of debating whether to hide her new favorite mug out of fear that Waverly would ask why she had it and the story behind it, or to leave it there and hope she wouldn’t ask about it when the doorbell rang. It was ten minutes after the time they agreed to meet, and Nicole assumed that the elder Earp had something to do with it. 

Nicole bolted down the stairs in order for Nedley not to see the youngest Earp in their household. Nedely had a knack to interrogate everyone she had ever invited to hang out in their house and their plans with Nicole. Not in the ‘ _ parents meet your girlfriend kid of way _ ’, but it was still something very awkward and tense. Her plan was to get Waverly up to her room before he even had the chance to see her, thankfully to her luck he seemed too far away to answer the door and far away to see the look on her face when she saw Waverly.

Waverly stood at the doorway with a light blue flower patterned blouse that was tucked into fashionably looking black trousers. Nicole had expected Waverly to show up in her usual outfit, her denim jeans and her button-up shirt that was paired by itself or layered with a sweater, not this. Her makeup was even more subtle, if that was even possible. She stood there, fidgeting more and more the longer Nicole stared at her.

“Sorry I showed up late,” Waverly said, looking down at her hands and intertwining her fingers nervously. “Wynonna thinks she knows Purgatory better than a GPS.”

Nicole chuckled and shook her head, moving aside to let Waverly in, “Stubborn Earp.”

“Don’t even get me started on it,” Waverly scoffed.

Nicole chuckled again and grabbed Waverly’s arm gently, “Let’s head upstairs before Nedley gets ahold of you.”

“Trying to hide your friend from me, Nicole?” A voice startled the both of them. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you are embarrassed of me.”

“H-Hello Mr. Nedley,” Waverly stuttered beside Nicole.

“Nedley this is-“

“Waverly Earp,” Nedley finished for Nicole. Waverly stiffened at the mention of her name.

“Nice to see you, again…” Waverly rushed out. “Under different circumstances, that is.”

“Wait, you know Waverly? I thought you only knew Wynonna.” Nicole tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh yeah,” Nedley said, crossing his arms. “Young Waverly used to come get her sister at the station when Gus was busy at Shorty’s. Of course I only let her sister out with a signed note and a phone call from Gus.” He paused and gave her a small smile, extending his hand towards Waverly, “No need for formalities, just call me Randy or Nedley, whichever one you prefer.”

Waverly visibly relaxed and shook his hand.

“Well Ned, we have a project to finish so…” Nicole trailed off as she grabbed Waverly’s arm again. He looked like he was about to argue until Nicole sent him a look and he waved them off. She ushered Waverly up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door once they were inside. When she turned around, she could tell that Waverly was examining her room, just like Nicole had expected. Waverly was a curious person, she had picked up on that the second day of math class, she hoped that Waverly wouldn’t ask her about the mug. To her surprise Waverly didn’t comment on anything, instead she smiled at the small cluster of Polaroid pictures and chuckled at her mug. But that was about it. Nicole let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw Waverly gingerly sit on her bed.

“Alright, where do you want to begin?” She asked, pulling her desk chair and sitting directly in front of Waverly.

— — —

They had worked in silence just like they did back in the library, but something in the air felt different, at least for Nicole. She had moved from her chair to the floor. She would look up at Waverly then back down to her work.

Waverly didn’t know if Nicole had done this back at the library, but to be fair, she wasn’t really paying attention to the redhead last time. Waverly was a bit distracted. When she would look at Nicole, it reminded her of how Nicole was dressed. Nicole wore leather pants that hugged her in all the right places, along with an old band shirt. Did Nicole dress up like that usually when she wasn’t at school, or did she intentionally dressed up like that because Waverly was coming over? Waverly couldn't care less as she was flustered. At this point the math project seemed trivial, and this just seemed like some high school movie cliché that Waverly had seen a bunch of times she told herself she wouldn’t fall for when she was in high school, but here she was worrying about the hot girl in front of her. 

“Okay, that should be it,” Waverly spoke out suddenly, mostly to distract her mind. “I can turn it in to Mrs. Bunny Monday morning, if you like?”

“Huh?” Nicole mumbled, seeming to be in a haze. “Oh yeah, that would be fine.”

“See you later then?” Waverly started packing up her things.

“Wait!” 

Waverly turned around, confused. Did she forget something on the project?

“Nedley always makes too much food for the two of us for dinner, you should stay?” Nicole said it like a question. She herself didn’t even know what she was saying. She hadn’t lied though, Nedley made a big enough dinner that would leave them with leftovers, sometimes they lasted for a week or a few days. Plus, Nicole was worried that Waverly hadn’t had lunch and  _ not _ because she wanted Waverly to stay for a little while longer, at least not entirely.

“Are you asking me to stay for dinner?” Waverly asked, shocked that Nicole would ask her to stay.

“Yes,” Nicole practically whispered.

Waverly’s eyebrows were knit together as she considered it, still looking a bit shocked. Enough time passed that made Nicole slightly fidget before Waverly shook her head, “Only if Nedley is alright with me staying.”

Nicole’s face broke into a small grin as she grabbed Waverly’s hand and quickly ushered her down the stairs. Waverly eyes widened in confusion. This was not a Nicole she had seen, at least not how she usually acted. Nedley was in the kitchen, humming along to rock songs that he only bared to listen to because Nicole liked them.

“And here you had me thinking you didn’t like my taste in music,” Nicole chuckled as they entered the room. Nedley jumped at the sound of her voice, spilling a bit of whatever was on the spatula on the counter. He turned down the volume of the music and turned around, looking over her shoulder when he noticed Waverly standing behind her before returning his gaze back to Nicole. “I told you I listen to these songs because it reminds me of my youth.”

“Gee Nedley, if you keep talking like that I might think you lived long enough to witness the birth of rock-and-roll,” Nicole teased.

“Oh, you!” Nedley chastised, then shook his head, “Is your friend staying for dinner?”

“Yes, if that’s alright with you.”

“Of course,” He replied easily, shocking Waverly who thought the man might flat out said no. “She can give me an unbiased opinion on my dish and the more the merrier.”

“Thank you, sir,” Waverly spoke softly from behind Nicole. Nicole and Nedley laughed at the formality, Nedley waving it off, “Please don’t call me sir. This one already makes me feel like I’m an old man.”

Nicole laughed and sat on the counter, stealing a carrot off the cutting board when he wasn’t looking. Waverly gave her a look when she continued to steal another vegetable. Nicole offered Waverly a piece of celery with a wink, laughing at her dumbfounded face. Nicole raised a bit of a condescending brow at her, the faint pink of Waverly's cheeks giving away that it had successfully taken effect. She knew Nedley was watching them out of the corner of his eye, pretending to stir something. He smiled to himself, and Nicole didn’t know why.

They hung out for a while before Nedley was done preparing the food. Waverly seemed to be more at ease, yet still unsure of how to act around Nedley. Waverly was about to sit down with a leg tucked under the other, but immediately dropped it when she saw Nedley walking into the room.

“This is delicious, thank you,” Waverly said after a moment’s silence.

“Oh, you are too kind,” He replied, beaming at the compliment.

“How much did it hurt to say that?” Nicole teased.

“I’ll have you know I was being honest,” Waverly countered.

“That’s not what I heard when Jeremy gave you a homemade cookie.”

“He added a tablespoon of salt instead of a pinch of salt! He was going to give it to his crush. Now tell me does that sound like a good friend to you or to be considered a good friend in your book is to make sure they get home safe by walking them to their door?” Waverly smirked.

“You know there's a story behind that one,” Nedley suddenly chimed in. “Nicole’s friend ran away once. They lived next to us before Nicole left and they moved, but Nicole  _ walked _ her to her house and the next thing I know I’m getting an angry phone call from their parents.”

Nicole expected Waverly to become nervous again, but she had turned to him with a dangerous spark in her eyes. It worried Nicole what might happen now. 

“Oh, really now?” Waverly asked.

“Apparently the kid ran to try and catch a dog they saw running shortly after Nicole left. They eventually found them sitting with the dog at a park.”

Waverly laughed and asked Nedley to continue. Nicole did everything in her power not to outright tell him to shut up and stop him from telling Waverly more embarrassing stories, but Waverly slid her chair over and restrained her while he continued on.

“I think I haven’t put away her baby photos they gave me, they should-“

Nicole’s eyes widened and she bit the hand covering her mouth, breaking free of Waverly’s grasp. “That’s enough Nedley I think Waverly’s heard enough.”

“Oh, I’m-“ Nicole cut her off with a look and pulled her up to her feet. 

“She should probably get going soon, so..”

Waverly huffed, but didn’t complain. She exchanged her goodbyes with Nedley, being glad she knew now that the man didn’t hold any resentment towards her for her sister’s past. Nicole was mortified that they had bonded over the parts of her past that were embarrassing, but she finally had got her to walk away.

“Okay, Wynonna should be here soon,” Waverly said as they walked to the door.

“You better not tell anyone about the flying squirrel incident,” Nicole threatened when they arrived at the doorway. Waverly did a mocking ‘ _ my lips are sealed _ ’ motion as a reply.

“I’m serious.”

“I may not relate to your embarrassing childhood stories, but I know how to keep a secret,” Waverly softly spoke. Nicole frowned, she had not intended it in that way, but before she could clarify anything Waverly continued speaking. “Thanks for letting me stay for dinner.”

“It was nothing. We had to finish the project, and I just assumed you were hungry. But I’m very sorry that Nedley talked your ear off-”

Nicole was cut off by the sound of a car horn.

“That’s her,” Waverly said after glancing at the car.

“Right.”

If Waverly didn’t know any better, she might have thought Nicole sounded disappointed, but neither of them moved. Nicole could hear Nedley cleaning up, and Wynonna was parked far enough away that she couldn’t see them. Nicole looked over to where the car was parked then back at Waverly and noticed that her eyes faltered from looking at her eyes to somewhere below them, confused she took a step back. Waverly gave her a shy smile when she saw Nicole take a step back. Waverly leaned in and Nicole looked at her in even more confusion, though she didn’t move and noticed how her heartbeat went into overdrive.

And then…. Waverly returned to how she was and extended her hand to Nicole with a smirk, “See you later, Nicole.”

Nicole shook her hand and waved her goodbye as she watched Waverly enter a black car and watched said car drive off. When she finally convinced herself to get out of the doorway and not try to think too much about what exactly had happened, she went to help Nedley in the kitchen. She dried and put the dishes away, just like they had always done every night. Nedley smiled his gratitude, and they continued in silence until the last dish. She could feel him watching her as she was putting away the very last dish.

“Why haven’t you talked about her?” He asked once she turned around.

Nicole looked at him with bewilderment, “Technically we aren’t friends since we only talk during class and sometimes when I pass by her table at lunch and through messages. Then we paired up for this assignment so…” She trailed off, not really knowing how to end her statement.

“You seemed very close, though.”

“I bumped into her while I was shopping the day I arrived, so I thought I had to be courteous and I think she is just returning the sentiment.” As Nicole spoke, something didn’t feel right, as if she was saying something wrong.

Nedley gave her his ‘ _ all-knowing father _ ’ look, like if she was missing something that had been right in front of her. “That is not the case here.”

“What?”

He shook his head and sighed, “Let’s say that, not considering that I’ve taken her sister to the station on multiple occasions, the way she was acting isn’t the type of way you’d behave if you were meeting the parents of the person ‘they’re just working on a project with’.” Nicole tried to understand what Nedley was insinuating as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “For what it’s worth, I like her.”

He stepped away and was about to walk away when Nicole spoke out, “What do you mean, Ned?”

He looked at her like he was debating on telling her or telling her it wasn’t his place to say, but then he saw the confused and vulnerable look in her eyes and spoke honestly, “Nicole that girl looks to be infatuated with you and you with her.”

Nicole scoffed as Nedley walked away. He could be wrong, I mean, look at what he said about her attending that school. That she’d shape up, but that wasn’t the case she’d only dialed the intensity of her shenanigans, so much so that it wouldn’t get her in trouble. Or was Nedley saying that they liked each other as friends? Yeah, that seemed like the most viable answer. Waverly didn’t like her anymore than a friend, right?


	3. Do I Wanna Know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to whoever posted my fic on Tumblr. This chapter was heavily inspired by "Do I Wanna Know?" by the Arctic Monkeys. All mistakes are mine.

Waverly dropped into the car seat with a loud breath. Wynonna looked at her, concern for her little sister ever prevalent.

“What happened?” Wynonna asked as she pulled out of the street. “If Haught did something to you I swear to God, I’ll turn this car around and rip her new one.”

Waverly shook her head, “She did nothing.”

Wynonna’s face softened at her sister's vulnerable tone, “Then why do you seem down?”

Waverly groaned and stared out of the window. Wynonna glanced at the road and back at her sister for a while.

“You really like her, don’t you.” Wynonna tried hiding her excitement, but she had failed and Waverly looked at her.

“No!” She countered.

“Waverly come on!” Wynonna retorted. “I haven’t seen you excited to go to math class since Jeremy was in the class two years ago.”

“But I don’t.” She held Wynonna’s gaze with as much conviction so could muster while they waited for the light to turn green.

“Waverly,” Wynonna sighed. “It’s okay to like someone again. I know that the idiot of Champ ruined it the last time, but I have a feeling Nicole isn’t even remotely like him. I mean, Nicole is smoking hot and Champ looks like a gremlin that was fed after midnight.”

“He really looked like that,” Waverly chuckled and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she spoke. “But I don’t like Nicole like that.” She said it with much determination she hoped she would convince Wynonna, but knew that she was mostly trying to convince herself. Thankfully Wynonna let it go, much to her surprise. Waverly untucked her shirt from her pants and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, pressing her head against the cool surface of the window. Her mind filled with doubts, had she become attached to Nicole? Perhaps attached wasn’t the word, more like interested in her as a friend. Waverly had almost kissed her today and that day when Nicole dropped her off at her house. Her mind was a mess and she couldn’t even fathom the fact that Nicole could like her back. That wasn’t a possibility, not now nor before. But Waverly could feel her resolve slowing fading away. She pulled out her phone and texted Nicole before she could overthink it.

**Waverly:** _Thank you again for today_

She didn’t receive a reply from Nicole. She stared at her phone waiting to see the dots pop up, but they never came. She sighed and turned off her phone.

“Hypothetically if I thought someone liked me, what should I do?” Waverly had thought about what she said until it was too late.

“We’ll do you like them?” Wynonna’s question came with serious intent which surprised Waverly.

“N-No?” Waverly stammered. “Well, not really… I-I don’t actually know.”

Wynonna stayed silent, placing a hand on Waverly’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“The truth is, I might. But I’m scared.”

Wynonna gave her a small smile before turning back to the road, “That’s totally okay.”

Waverly sat there in silence, being grateful that her sister didn’t press on to ask who it was. Though Wynonna already knew the person in question.

——————

Waverly thought about her conversation with Wynonna all morning long, even as her sister looked at her curiously. She knew she would have to control her nerves before she saw Nicole.

“Looking for Haught?” Wynonna chuckled from beside her.

“I told you I don’t like her like that.” Waverly turned to glare at her sister, but it seemed like Wynonna didn’t have any energy to tease her like she did last night. No, something had changed. Something in her eyes now reflected the older sister that Waverly sometimes forgot she was.

“Oh Babygirl, you fell for her, haven’t you?” Wynonna put a hand around her sister’s shoulder. “Don’t worry I won’t tell a soul.”

Waverly looked at her in surprise. Wynonna shrugged and smiled at her. Waverly nodded and smiled slightly back. They separated when they passed by the library where Waverly had to print out their project to give to Mrs. Bunny. The library was empty since they arrived twenty minutes early before class started. Waverly would waste time in the quiet corner she found last time while she waited till it was time to go to class, needing some time alone. Someone entered the library as the last page came out of the printer. She paid no attention to them as she looked through the pages to make sure that they were all there. Much to her surprise she heard them walk up to her, slightly fidgeting a few feet behind her. Waverly stepped aside to let them have access to the printer as she made a second look through the pages, but they didn’t move.

“I’ll be out of your way in a-“ Waverly stopped talking and felt like an idiot when she turned around and saw who it was. “Nicole,” She said, still a bit shocked. “Do you need something?”

“You said you were doing this, and I came here early to see if you needed any help, but it seems I got here late.” 

Waverly gave her a small smile and shook her head, “Don’t worry about it.” Did Nicole seem a bit awkward or was she just seeing things?

Waverly placed a hand on Nicole’s cheek, then on her forehead. “Are you okay? You seem awkward today,” Waverly blurted out before she even had the chance to think it over.

Nicole stiffened at the sudden touch, “I-I had a bit more espresso than I could handle. But I swear I’m not sick.”

“Yeah, you don’t have a fever and I don’t think anyone who would be sick would look that good.” Waverly blushed at her words as she dragged her hand back, slower than what was probably necessary. Nicole’s jaw dropped slightly and Waverly busied herself with making sure that the papers were uniformly stacked.

“Well, since you’re here early, we could turn this in to Mrs. Bunny together.” Waverly shrugged as she stapled the papers together. 

“Yeah,” Nicole breathed out as she followed Waverly out of the library, waving a silent goodbye to the librarian on her way out.

They chatted about nothing as they walked to Mrs. Bunny’s classroom. Nicole noticed as they walked that Waverly stood closer to her. She would usually keep her distance, like when Waverly was guiding her to her classes or when they would walk to their classes before parting ways. The distance only ever bridged by Nicole, when she wanted to tease Waverly. Their hands brushed as they walked, and Nicole didn’t know if it was conscious or not, but somewhere deep down she felt appreciative of the change. They almost made it to the classroom before a voice stopped them.

“Waverly!” Too much dismay, Waverly turned around to the sound of Champ’s voice and stopped to wait for the ridiculous boy to catch up. Waverly cocked her head and smiled at him as a greeting while Nicole stood up straighter and her expression soured, as if she was ready to fight. Champ was beaming until he finally noticed Nicole. They locked eyes for a moment before his attention turned to Waverly. “You’re here very early. I mean earlier than usual. Like you usually arrive a few minutes before the bell to get your stuff out of your locker.”

Waverly rubbed the back of her neck and then gestured to Nicole or more to the papers Nicole offered to take out of her hands. “We needed to turn this in to Mrs. Bunny so…”

Champ nodded, ignoring Nicole. “Well, once you’re done we could hang out a bit before class starts? You know for old time’s sake.”

Champ looked like an excited puppy, but Waverly looked back and forth between Nicole and Champ like there was a choice to be made. After a moment, she looked guiltily at Nicole.

“Well, Nicole…” This was already too early for Nicole to hear in the morning. This was just another reminder that whatever this weird thing was with Waverly, it was going to end as soon as they turned in the papers. Even by a slight chance Waverly did like her as a friend, it wouldn’t mean anything if people like Champ were around and she surely didn’t want Waverly’s pity.

“You know what, Waves. Don’t worry about it,” Nicole grumbled and took a step back. “I can take this to her myself and you can hang out with your friend.”

Nicole turned around and left, even though she could hear Waverly call after her. Something had pissed her off, hurt her even. But this didn’t mean anything, and it surely didn’t have anything to do with what Nedley told her last night. Not even a little because she didn’t like Waverly like that.

— — — —

Nicole skipped first period today because really what would they would go over that day other than Mrs. Bunny yelling at half the classroom for their poor excuse of what they called a project. She tucked herself in the quiet corner of the library she had come to adore so much. She grabbed the most complex philosophy book to occupy her mind before her next class. She still did not know why it bothered her so much to see Champ earlier. But it was better to distract herself than to dwell on the possibilities, or even to be reminded of Nedley’s words. She put all of her mental energy to make mental annotations of the book. 

It wasn’t long before someone found her. She could hear Waverly fumble around the library, even asking an underclassman if they had seen her. Waverly shook her head around the corner and grinned like an idiot. Nicole pretended not to notice Waverly as she was bound to walk up to her, but there was an unmistakable smirk on her face as Waverly approached.

“I have found you.”

“Mission accomplished, but I have a lot more time before the next class and I prefer to go through them alone,” Nicole growled as she flipped the page.

“How can you turn so dismissive and rude?” Out of the corner of her eye Nicole could see Waverly pout.

“I’ve had years of practice.” Nicole meant it as a joke, but Waverly frowned and sat down next to her.

“Why did you run off earlier?” Waverly leaned slightly closer to her.

“I didn’t want to intrude on you and you friend. I have him in one of my classes and I can’t even stand the guy.”

“Yeah, and I was going to tell him I was going to to hang out with you, but you ran off before I could even finish my sentence.” Waverly bashfully smiled at Nicole.

Nicole looked up at Waverly, slightly bewildered. “Why would you do that?”

Waverly bit her lip as she chose her words, “You’re more interesting than you give yourself credit for.” 

Nicole chose not to make a snarky comment, but ended up wiping the stupid look of endearment off her own face as she slumped back in her chair and shrugged, turning back to her book. Waverly scoffed and grabbed the book out of her hands.

“Hey!” Nicole countered.

“You can’t just ignore me when I said something like that,” Waverly said, holding the book out of Nicole’s reach. “You are not getting this back until you talk to me.”

Nicole rushed forward slightly, attempting to grab the book. Waverly squealed and pulled the book away even further, leaning so far that she might topple out of her chair. Nicole stretched out her hand as Waverly turned her head and read the page Nicole was on.

“Once I knew only darkness and stillness...my life was without past or future...but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living,” Waverly read in her best serious tone. “That sounds lonely.”

Nicole grunted in response before pushing forward, causing both of them to topple over. Once they hit the floor Nicole was practically straddling Waverly, their faces mere inches away, a part of her wanted to stay there and pull away as slowly as possible, but the rational part of her brain pushed through and made her scramble away. Waverly didn’t even try to hide the deep red blush off her face, staring at Nicole and willing her on.

“You act like I stole your diary,” Waverly joked as she stood up, but Nicole didn’t react. She stuffed the book away in her backpack, protecting it from Waverly.

“So you’re here because you like me?” Nicole teased, not knowing the other implications of her words.

Waverly started stuttering and waving her hands about, now fully aware of the blush on her cheeks. “N-No. I mean, yes. Like you’re fun to hang out with, but it’s not that… that is not a thing.”

Nicole turned to Waverly with an eyebrow raised and leaned back, reveling in the awkward mess in front of her. Waverly was practically oozing nervous energy before it faded and she was back at pouting at Nicole.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Waverly crossed her arms.

“Maybe,” Nicole replied with a smirk.

“You’re the worst!” Waverly groaned, shaking her head.

“So you’ve mentioned before.”

Waverly had that inquiring look on her face, like she had just realized something about Nicole and everything she said had some sort of new meaning, almost pity, and Nicole didn’t like it. Her intentions with Waverly had merely been back and forth. Everything wasn’t exactly perfect, but it was good. Now that Nicole’s teasing felt friendly and Waverly was conscious of it, she was out of depth.

“Champ is my ex,” Waverly blurted.

“Good, you can do a lot better,” Nicole shrugged. She wasn’t lying, Champ was the scum of the earth from what she could tell.

“Like you?”

Nicole did not know what the hell was even going on anymore.

“I’m hardly an upgrade from Champ.” It physically hurt Nicole to say something nice about Champ, but she will admit that Waverly deserved someone with a less complicated background.

“I don’t know about that,” Waverly replied, placing a hand on her chin. “You can be pretty charming when you want to be.” Waverly wasn’t even surprised by the words that had come out of her mouth, but she didn’t take them back. Instead, she smiled and changed the subject, “So you’ve got a slip to miss part of first period also?”

Nicole shook her head no. Waverly loudly gasped as if Nicole had committed a federal crime. Nicole grimaced when Waverly grabbed her arm, “Nicole, you can’t just ditch class! You can get in trouble! Come on!”

“It’s not like Mrs. Bunny was going to teach today.”

“That is very disrespectful.” Waverly swatted her arm as she continued to drag her.

Nicole rolled her eyes even though Waverly had her back to her. Waverly now marched out of the library with intent, while Nicole tried to close her bag before everything had the chance to fall out. Waverly didn’t speak to Nicole the rest of the way. Nicole worried she had actually pissed off Waverly and considered apologizing to her, but they made it to the classroom before she could even utter the words.

Luckily Waverly opened the door quietly, so they wouldn’t cause a scene. Their classmates were working on a reading assignment while Mrs. Bunny angrily flipped through pages of their projects. Wynonna eyed them curiously as Waverly pulled Nicole to Mrs. Bunny’s desk. 

“I’m very sorry, Mrs. Bunny. Nicole and I printed out our project in the school’s library and well we forgot we had to pay. Nicole offered to turn in the project and I stayed behind and pay, but I forgot I didn’t have any money on me. That is why I needed the pass earlier.” Waverly’s tone was completely different when she talked with adults, a thing Nicole would absolutely tease her about. But Waverly was covering for her, so the least she could do was keep quiet.

“It’s okay, Waverly. I think I could’ve explained myself.”

Waverly smiled at the mention of her name, “But with an attitude like yours I highly doubt she would believe you.”

“Thought you said I was charming?” Nicole pouted before sighing. “Thanks.”

Mrs. Bunny stared at them, as if she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that a sweet girl like Waverly could hang out with someone as closed off as Nicole. Or why said closed off girl seemed to melt at any word that fell from Waverly’s mouth. “Alright, grab a packet and sit down, you can take it home if you need some more time to work on it. I have something to tell the entire class.”

Nicole went to sit down while Waverly thanked the teacher. As Waverly made her way to her seat, she said a look with her sister who mouthed ‘What the fuck?’.

Mrs. Bunny cleared her throat and stood up from her desk, “You have all written utter trash.”

The entire class went even more silent as they looked at her in fear.

“Except for Waverly and Nicole’s project. Though that won’t exempt them from this next part.” Waverly and Nicole glanced at each other before Mrs. Bunny continued, “Because you all seem to be bad at writing. I hope you can turn it into an acceptable quarter presentation project. So, I’m extending this project in hopes you can actually make something better than absolute garbage.”

Waverly gasped, this was something she definitely was not expecting.

——————

Nicole was distracted in her physics class. She spent most of the entire class trying to understand why Waverly did what she did, but ended up deciding that she should be grateful that Waverly had covered for her even after she had acted like a douche at the library. Trying to understand it was trivial and let it go. 

She was about to leave the class feeling content with what she couldn’t care less about. She had considered rushing over to Waverly’s class and walking with her to her next one to waste some time before going to her own, but before she could even make it out the door, someone stopped her from leaving. 

“Hey Nicole,” Shae said as she let go of her arm.

“Uh, Hello?” Nicole replied distractedly.

Even as Shae kept talking, she was admittedly distracted when she saw Waverly walking with someone she couldn’t see who it was. Nicole couldn’t really care less what Shae was talking about, but she wasn’t rude enough to tell her to piss off. She could see Waverly now talking to Jeremy across the hall and alternated between looking at them and at Shae. It wasn’t a perfect system. She didn’t notice when Shae asked her a question right as she was looking at Waverly.

“Huh? I’m sorry, what was that?” Nicole asked as she rubbed her temple.

Shae laughed, “I asked what your plans were for next weekend?”

Nicole quickly glanced over at Waverly before she replied, “Uh, I don’t actually know.”

Shae stepped in closer, a little too close for Nicole’s comfort, and touched her arm in a more than friendly way. Nicole quickly glanced over at Waverly, who had locked right on the place where Shae’s hand was placed, which she found interesting. Shae waved her hand in front of Nicole’s face, forcing her to lock eyes with her. Nicole fought the urge to pull her arm away from Shae’s grasp and instead smirked, hoping it didn’t appear flirtatious.

“Well,” Shae’s tone was low. “I was thinking you would come with me to Champ’s party?”

Nicole’s eyes widened at the invitation, “His what now?”

“He asked me to help him invite people over for his party.” Shae slid her hand down slightly, “You know because I have a  _ way _ with people.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Shae leaned in close to Nicole’s ear, and Nicole couldn’t help but close her eyes at the sudden closeness. “I’ll text you the address if you want to go,” Shae whispered as she placed a hand on Nicole’s cheek.

When Nicole opened her eyes, Shae had disappeared into the crowd. She glanced to where she last saw Waverly and saw that she too had disappeared. Nicole shook her head, a guilty feeling settling on the pit of stomach as she walked to her next class.

——————

Waverly walked to the lunch line and searched for Jeremy. When she couldn’t find him, she joined the line by herself. She had been immersed in her own thoughts from what she had seen earlier that she didn’t notice her sister had said hello to her until Wynonna placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her.

“Are you okay, Waverly?” Wynonna looked at her face, searching for something in her expression to give her a basis of what was happening.

“Huh?” Waverly looked at her sister, dazed. “Oh! Yeah, I’m peachy.” Her reply had been charged with a bit of force, although it sounded like her normally cheerful response as she looked at the ground.

“Now I know something happened.” Wynonna placed her hand on her back and gently nudged her forward as the line moved.

“No, nothing happened.” Waverly shook her head and shrugged off her sister’s hand off her back.

“Really now?” Wynonna turned her around, making Waverly face her and holding her there so she won’t run off. “Then explain why you look like you are about to cut someone’s head off with a smile?”

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about.” Waverly shoved off Wynonna’s hand and stepped forward.

“Waverly,” Wynonna declared, taking on her big sister tone that she always used in serious situations.

“I-..” Waverly sighed, “I’m not telling you right here.” Waverly stepped up to the window and ordered her lunch from the menu at the side of it. When the lunch lady handed her food, Waverly smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you’ as she stepped aside and waited for Wynonna to receive her own order. They remained silent as they joined Jeremy at their usual spot.

“Hey, guys!” Jeremy greeted them. He was practically buzzing in his seat. “I have some exciting news.”

“Ooo.” Wynonna was the first to answer, “Do tell Jer-Bear.”

“I got invited to my first party!” Jeremy beamed.

“Wait,” Waverly finally chimed in. “This party wouldn’t happen to be going down next weekend, would it?”

Jeremy’s smile faltered, “Y-yes?”

Waverly covered her face with her hand, never removing it as she spoke. “That’s Champ’s party.”

“Is that what has you so upset?” Wynonna asked as she opened her milk carton and scoffed. “That you didn’t get invited to your ex’s party?”

“No, I got invited.” Waverly didn’t want to face the real reason she had gotten upset for.

“Then what happened,” Jeremy said as he opened his vegan Thai salad.

“I saw Nicole and Shae.” Waverly paused as she waited for a witty or teasing remark from either of them, but they stayed silent. “Let’s just say that now I know who Nicole had a fling with.”

“Is that jealousy I detect?” There it finally was, a snarky response from her sister.

“No?” Waverly’s voice was an octave high.

Jeremy chuckled, “Was that a question?”

“Ugh!” Waverly groaned. “I don’t know.”

“Alright, that’s it.” Wynonna placed her carton of milk down and looked at Jeremy, “It’s time for operation-intervention Cupid.”

Jeremy slowly lowered his fork, “Wait right now?”

“What does that mean?” Waverly looked back and forth between them.

“Well, duh,” Wynonna stated as a matter of fact. “This is an emergency.”

“But my Thai salad,” Jeremy pouted as he pointed at his food.

“Jeremy!” Wynonna groaned.

“What is happening?” Waverly repeated herself, hoping they would answer her.

“Waverly,” Wynonna being, folding her hands like if she was in a professional meeting. “Jeremy and I have concocted this plan in case you were oblivious to your own feelings or denied them furiously even after you asked us about it.”

“I still think she gave it a stupid name,” Jeremy chimed in, but nodded in agreement with the situation.

“But I’m not denying anything.” Waverly tilted her head in confusion.

“Waverly, you asked me about a hypothetical on the way home from Nicole’s house.” Wynonna stared at her sister with more intent, “You only ever ask about a hypothetical when you want to convince yourself otherwise, but not without hearing someone else’s opinion first.”

“I don’t do that.” Waverly felt like a part of her had been exposed.

“You also asked me if she had been flirting with you.” Of course Jeremy would bring that up.

“I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things within her jokes and teasing,” Waverly dismissed their statements.

“Waverly,” Wynonna spoke softly as she placed a hand on her sister’s arm. “It’s okay to like someone. It’s okay to especially like Nicole’s sexy ginger ass.”

Jeremy laughed as he chimed in, “She may not be my type, but she is attractive.”

“Maybe I do like her,” Waverly admitted as she hid her face in her hands. “But I don’t stand a chance against someone like Shae.”

“Oh, please, Shae might have just been a one-time thing.” Wynonna removed her hand and took a sip of her milk.

“You should have seen them. When I walked with Jeremy to his class, I saw Shae be more… well be more than friendly with Nicole. At one point she leaned in and Nicole closed her eyes. I don’t even want to know what she told Nicole that needed to respond to it like that.”

“She probably invited her to Champ’s party,” Jeremy said as he stabbed a bit of salad. “You know those two can’t help, but help each other out and invite people when one of them plans a party.”

“And if she didn’t and they are more than just friends?” Waverly asked as she finally ate her food since they sat down, mostly eating it instead of dealing with the emotion she had been ignoring, jealousy. But convinced herself to ignore it and keep Nicole at arm’s length. Maybe that will help her forget about her feelings towards the redhead.

“Well, we will just have to wait and see, Babygirl. Shae will probably get bored like she always does.”

\------------

The following day Nicole tried to talk to Waverly, whispering throughout the lecture, but Waverly was far more interested in the lecture than Nicole’s comments. Nicole even went ahead and placed her foot on the leg of Waverly’s chair and began to arithmetically tap on it. Waverly set her pen down and glared at her. Nicole stopped her movements and tried to pay attention to the lecture, but how could she when her mind was wrapped up thinking about why Waverly seemed so different. She had just covered for her yesterday, so what caused the sudden change? Did Nicole do something that offended her? No, that couldn’t possibly be it.

“Nicole.” Mrs. Bunny’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “What is the answer?”

Nicole stared at the whiteboard. She must have not been even remotely paying attention to the lecture as the board was filled with new material than what she was writing a second ago. In a matter to save face, Nicole looked at her paper then at the problem on the board.

‘ _ If a soccer tournament is played in a round-robin format where every team plays every other team. Assuming that every team plays every other team exactly once, how many games will be played with 10 teams? How many games would be played if the teams were doubled? _ ’

“Pfft, easy,” Nicole stated with fake confidence. “Forty-five games would be played if there were ten teams. A hundred and ninety if there are twenty teams, since they would need to go through elimination matches for the tournament.”

Every one of her classmates turned to look at her. Nicole shrugged at them, definitely noticing when Wynonna’s jaw dropped.

“Good.” Mrs. Bunny did not seem impressed, “Now explain how you got to your answers on the board.”

Nicole took a deep breath and walked to the front of the class. She was never good at explaining just how she got to her answers in words she only knew how to show how she got there. She grabbed a black marker, glancing at Mrs. Bunny before turning back to the board. “It’s a sequence, so we write it as such. We can let n stand for the amount of teams. Since there are an even number of teams, we can use two as a denominator, which double as pitting two teams against each other. Since it is a tournament after facing each other completely once they would need to eliminate teams or otherwise it would go on forever and it would get boring.”

Nicole paused, she looked over her shoulder and looked at Waverly. She was nodding her head, Nicole took this as a sign that she was on the right track as she finished writing the formula on the board, ‘k=[n/2(n-1)]’.

“You may sit down now.” Mrs. Bunny gestured to her seat. On her way back, Nicole noticed Waverly staring at her.

“That is how you solve these types of problems, right?” Nicole asked in a whisper.

“That is one way to solve it,” Waverly shrugged.

“One way?” Nicole leaned closer to Waverly to hear her better.

“Yes,” Waverly replied. Nicole was about to press on further, but Mrs. Bunny began to loudly speak and Nicole took it as a silent ‘pay attention’. She couldn’t pay attention though, throughout the lecture she kept glancing over at Waverly, feeling sad that her friend wasn’t speaking to her.

\----------

A week later, Wynonna ordered her lunch and thanked the lunch lady before walking away. It had been late in the lunch hour so she got, what she considered, the bottom of the barrel. She went on autopilot as she walked to the usable table, only coming to when she felt she placed her tray down with a bit more force than she intended to. Jeremy choked on his orange at Wynonna’s sudden appearance.

“What happened?” Waverly asked as she watched her sister place her bag down.

“Some stupid…” Wynonna paused, trying to sit down and not hit her knee on the table like she grew to do. “Dipshit fucking pinned something on me.”

Jeremy finally recovered from choking, “Who did what now?”

“This fucking dweeb said I stole his work when he didn’t even do his own shit,” Wynonna explained as she angrily unwrapped her sandwich from the bag.

“Did you steal his work?” Waverly cocked an eyebrow at her.

“I did not.” Wynonna slammed the wrapper on the tray.

“Are you sure?” Jeremy also didn’t buy it.

“I didn’t,” Wynonna groaned. “I finally did the work for once, but this scumbag fucking told the teacher that I stole his work and he believed the asshole.”

Waverly and Jeremy shared a look with each other, before Waverly asked what they had been thinking. “You didn’t fight the guy, did you?”

“Who fought who?”

All of them turned to look toward the familiar voice.

“Hey there Ginger bitch,” Wynonna greeted while Jeremy and Waverly stayed silent.

“Is it alright if I sit here?” Nicole pointed at the spot between Waverly and Wynonna.

“What? Did the librarian kick you out?” Wynonna teased as she slapped the open spot, letting her know she could sit there.

“No.” Nicole shook her head, “She told me to eat my lunch here because she wouldn't need my help today.”

“Did you piss her off?” Jeremy asked as he grabbed another slice of his orange.

“I don’t think so.” Nicole placed her tray down and sat down, “She said it nicely with a smile.”

“So you are definitely hiding something.” Waverly teased.

“What are you suggesting, Waverly?” Nicole challenged, a smirk playing on her lips.

Wynonna saved Waverly. “Guys, this doesn’t help me prove that I didn’t steal that asshole’s work.”

“Are you sure you didn’t steal it?” Nicole joked.

“Hilarious, Haught. These two already made that joke.” Wynonna gestured with her finger to Waverly and Jeremy. “If you don’t have a strategy, then you can eat your food with Shae.”

Nicole stopped breathing for a moment, she was caught off guard by the comment.

“Now back to what I was saying. How do I prove my innocence?” Wynonna glanced at them.

“Who’s the teacher?” Jeremy propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand.

“Mr. Nava,” Wynonna groaned. She hated the man.

“Oh, this will be easy,” Nicole declared, looking up from the table when there was no response. “We can go over there and say we worked together on it to help each other out.”

“You have him?” Wynonna couldn’t wipe the shock off her face.

“Yeah, she has him for her second period,” Waverly replied for Nicole, mentally cursing herself that she still remembered Nicole’s schedule.

“Oh yeah, I see her go into his class before I go into calculus!” Jeremy said excitedly, and Waverly couldn’t be more grateful that he had drawn attention away from what she had said.

“I see we are going for the Waverly strategy,” Wynonna teased.

“Huh?” Nicole replied, looking over at Wynonna before she realized. “Oh, y-yeah. You could say that I’m just paying it forward for her saving my ass.”

Waverly blushed, this was definitely not helping in keeping Nicole at arm’s length.

“Did I miss something?” Jeremy glanced at the three women in front of him, noting Waverly who was trying to hide her blushing face. To his luck, the lunch bell rang.

“Waverly? Can I talk to you?” Nicole waited until the bell had finished ringing and ignored Jeremy’s question.

“Guys, you still haven’t answered my question,” Jeremy complained as he got up from the table.

“I’ll tell you about it on the way to class.” Wynonna picked up her tray, glaring at Jeremy when he was about to reply. Waverly eyed them as they left. What was happening?

“Waverly?”

“Yes?” Waverly turned to Nicole.

“I-I was wondering if you would want to grab a coffee after school or whenever you are free?” Nicole scratched the back of her neck. She felt oddly nervous.

“I-I… what?” Waverly stammered. She hadn’t been alone with Nicole since they worked on the project in the library and at Nicole’s house, though they technically weren’t alone, mostly

“I wanted to…” Nicole took a deep breath. Jesus, why was this hard? “I-I wanted to get to know you better.”

“Oh?” It would be an understatement if Waverly said she hadn’t been actually speechless. She played with the strap of her backpack as she walked to her class.

“Nedley said I should hang out with my friends rather than staying home a lot and binge watching shows.” Nicole gave her a small smile when Waverly looked at her. “And you are my friend.”

There it was, the confirmation that Waverly had been reading too much into their banter. “Friends?” She asked, fearing any answer that came out of Nicole’s mouth next.

“Oh,” Nicole sighed out. “A-Are we not? I-I’m sorry, I thought… I-I didn’t bother to ask if you considered me as a friend. I’m so-”

Waverly laughed, she hadn’t seen Nicole ramble. Sure she had seen the gentle giant side of Nicole and the badass side of hers, but this one was new and she dare say that she was prideful of feeling like she was the only one who had witnessed it, even if they were walking in a public space. She waved her hand, covering her face with the other, “I didn’t mean to laugh I’m sorry. I just haven’t seen you so nervous before.”

Nicole stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Waverly as she confessed, “I haven’t done this in a while.”

“At having friends?!”

“Would it be sad if I said yes?” Nicole looked at Waverly with a slightly sad face.

Before Waverly could reply, her teacher interrupted them, “Waverly! You are going to start your test late!”

“Good luck on your test,” Nicole declared as she rushed off to her own class.

“See you after school!” Waverly exclaimed, smiling when the ginger looked over her own shoulder to wave goodbye.

“Waverly!” Her teacher called out once more.

“Right!” Waverly rushed into the class, grabbing the test packet from the teacher’s desk before sitting down at her desk.

\------------

Nicole stood by her motorcycle, examining over every nook and cranny of her vehicle. She was oddly fixated on her seat, wiping it as if had accumulated a layer of dust over the six hours she had been at school. Though it was a trivial thing to do, since she knew it wasn’t actually dusty, it had brought her vivid memories of the past, good ones. Finally, after she was sure that the non-existing layer of dust was gone, she sat on her motorcycle, gripping harder on the handles. She wondered if Nedley had ever tried to put the bike through its limits. She was sure to ask him when she saw him.

“Sorry for the wait.” Waverly’s voice snapped her out of her melancholy trance. “Mr. Rightnar asked me to stay a bit after class.”

“That’s alright,” Nicole dismissed with a flick of her hand. She didn’t want to admit that she had lost her perception of time. She patted the back part of the seat as she spoke, “Hop on.”

Waverly eyed the spot where Nicole’s hand laid, eyes momentarily flickering to look up at Nicole. She had gone on the bike before. Why is this time any different? Oh right, this time she had finally admitted to herself and two others that she liked the redhead in front of her.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to ride on the motorcycle again. I get it.” Nicole took out her phone and began typing in a number, “I’ll call us a taxi instead.”

Waverly surged forward without thinking, stopping Nicole from hitting the call button while. “No!” She blurted out.

“Are you sure?” Nicole gave her an apologetic look, “I will not make fun of you if you didn’t enjoy riding the last time.”

“I-I” Waverly stammered as she looked down at her hands. She was holding Nicole’s hands in her own. “No, I just didn’t know if you had another helmet like last time,” Waverly tried to say nonchalantly as she quickly let go of Nicole’s hands.

Nicole laughed as she reached into her saddlebag and took out another helmet, “I always have a spare.”

Waverly went to grab the helmet that Nicole was handing her before the redhead abruptly pulled away.

“Are you sure you remember how to put this on?” Nicole teased.

Waverly looked at the ground and shook her head. She had a superb memory, you could ask any of her teachers, but she couldn’t remember how Nicole had taught her how to put the helmet on.

Nicole got off her motorcycle. She placed the helmet at an angle, level to Waverly’s head. “Stick your head in,” She instructed.

Waverly placed her hands at the side of the helmet as she placed her head inside, accidentally making contact with Nicole’s hands. It sent a wave of electricity and it had felt different from any of the other times they had accidentally touched hands. She let go once her head was fully immersed.

“Hmm,” Nicole hummed as she examined the placement of the helmet on Waverly’s head. She moved one of her hands on the chin and the other at the back of the helmet, moving Waverly’s head to ensure it was on properly. “Is it too tight?” Nicole asked, staring directly into the brunette’s face.

“No, it’s good.” Waverly practically whispered her response.

Nicole gave her a small tap on the head before she mounted her bike. Waverly let out a breath as she sat behind Nicole it soon turned into a gasp when Nicole began laughing.

“Waverly, you are going to fall off if you sit that far back.”

“Right,” She mumbled as she scooted closer, hands never leaving the side of the seat.

“Come on, Waverly,” Nicole laughed harder. “I promise I won’t bite, unless you are into that.”

“Nicole!” Waverly shot back, shocked at Nicole’s suggestion.

“All I said was to put your arms around my waist,” Nicole shrugged, her signature smirk displayed on her face.

“That is not what you said,” Waverly groaned as she loosely placed her arms around Nicole’s waist.

“I promise I’ll ask consent before biting you.” Nicole put on her own helmet.

“Nicole!” Waverly swatted her back.

“What?” Nicole chuckled. “You are seriously going to make us have an accident if you don’t hold on more tightly.”

Waverly scoffed as she tightened her grip on Nicole’s waist.

\------------

“You haven’t tried the mufant?!” Nicole exclaimed as she held open the door for Waverly.

Waverly shook her head, causing Nicole’s jaw to drop. “I’ve never heard of it either,” She said as she eyed the banner of the cafe. “It sounds ludicrous.”

“I don’t know whether you are unlucky to have never tried it or to have to not even heard of it,” Nicole replied with an exaggerated sadness as she followed Waverly into the shop, noticing when Waverly took in a deep breath when the smell of fresh baked goods attacked their noses.

“Nicole!” An older man yelled from behind the counter.

“JJ!” Nicole greeted the man.

“I haven’t seen you since you were rebellious peewee.” JJ threw a rag over his shoulder and placed a hand on the display in front of him.

“Stop exaggerating I was twelve,” Nicole chuckled as they got closer to the display.

“Okay, Okay.” JJ threw his hands up in surrender before getting tongs. “Anything you want on the house.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Nicole started as she looked at Waverly then back at JJ. “My friend here is known for her enormous appetite.”

“That is not true,” Waverly countered. “You are the one with the massive appetite.”

JJ placed a hand on his belly as he laughed, “Now that I think of it, you only get two free pastries. One for you and one for your friend.”

Nicole smiled at him, “I’ll get two mufants. Do you guys still make that delicious hot chocolate coffee?”

“You bet your ass we do,” JJ replied as he placed small boxes on separate plates.

“What do you want to drink, Waves?” Nicole whispered as JJ rambled on about how he had improved the hot chocolate coffee while she was away.

“I don’t know. Can you pick for me?” Waverly replied as she eyed the menu, looking at the selection of drinks and couldn’t decide on one. She noticed she couldn’t find where they listed hot chocolate coffee on the menu.

“I’ll have one hot chocolate coffee and…” Nicole paused, placing a hand on her chin. “One horchata coffee with a dash more of cinnamon.”

“Sure thing, kiddo.” JJ placed the plates down on a tray next to the cash register. “Plastic or mugs?”

Nicole looked behind her, looking if they took her favorite spot. The shop almost filled with customers and it was relatively quiet. “Mugs.”

“Alright kiddo, that will be eight dollars,” JJ stated as he rang up their drink order.

“Keep the change.” Nicole handed him a twenty.

“Haught,” JJ chastised. “I told you the pastries were on the house.”

“I know, so this is a  _ tip _ ,” Nicole replied smugly.

“I swear one of these days I’ll get you.” JJ pointed a finger at Nicole before placing the twenty in the cash register, “I’ll bring your order to the usual table.”

“Thanks JJ.” Nicole tapped the counter and walked over to her favorite table of the shop. It was a window seat. To anyone else this choice of table would not be their first. The sun directly hit you on a summer’s day, but that is what Nicole loved about it, the warmth of the sun while she spent time here. No matter the weather it always felt like a warm bear hug.

“The drinks you ordered weren’t on the menu. How did you know he served them?” Waverly asked as she sat down in front of Nicole.

“I used to come here when I was in middle school before school even started.” Nicole ran a hand through her hair. “I ordered everything on the menu, then I asked the other customers what they were drinking when I didn’t recognize their drinks.”

“He let you buy coffee that young?!” Waverly exclaimed.

“Hey business is business,” Nicole laughed as she shrugged, slumping down on the comfortable chair.

“Well, I suppose,” Waverly whispered.

“You can’t say you’ve known Purgatory if you’ve never had a mufant,” Nicole proudly stated as she looked behind herself.

“I wouldn’t say what we eat determines us.”

“True,” Nicole said as she watched JJ walk over with their order. “But you haven’t tried the coffee here.”

“Here you go ladies,” JJ beamed as he placed the plates and mugs in front of them. “Enjoy.” He walked back to the counter as another customer came in.

Waverly waited for Nicole to open her box before opening her own, “What the hell is that?”

Nicole picked up the pastry and held it up, “This is a mufant. A croissant mixed with a muffin.”

“Are you sure this is edible?” Waverly continued to examine the pastry in front of her.

Nicole took a bite out of her mufant. “See? I didn’t die,” She answered when her mouth was almost empty.

“Not right now, but wait until you're older.” Waverly raised an eyebrow at her, “That's if you make it past your forties.”

“Then I guess you aren’t a real Purgatorian.” Nicole came up with a shitty conclusion, knowing that Waverly wouldn’t fall for it. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Waverly clicked her tongue and sighed. “I guess I’ll take a bite. Only because JJ was so nice to give me a freebie.”

“Uh huh,” Nicole teased. “Just because it's a freebie.” Nicole had almost finished her own mufant as she watched Waverly close her eyes and take a bite out of her first mufant. Nicole sneakily took a picture of a scared yet curious Waverly, eating her first mufant, hiding it quickly when she opened her eyes. “So?” She asked.

“This is disgusting.” Waverly opened her eyes, slightly confused, watching as Nicole’s smile faltered. “Disgustingly good. I can’t believe I’m taking another bite.”

Nicole picked up her mug and took a sip, “God, wait until you try how preposterous your drink is.”

Waverly stared at Nicole suspiciously as she brought the mug to her face, taking a sip. “Oh, my god you are right, this is preposterous!”

“Right?!” Nicole hid her smile behind her cup. She downed half of her drink before she spoke again, “Wait ‘till you hear this.”

“What?” Waverly watched as Nicole randomly got out of her seat with a smirk and walked over to JJ at the counter. She saw the older man grin from ear to ear as the duo disappeared behind what looked like to be a platform. After a couple of minutes they emerged, JJ set up a microphone while Nicole placed the amplifier down on the floor. The other customers shared the same amount of curiosity as Waverly, watching the redhead and older man move about on the platform.

“Is thing on?” JJ said as he tapped the microphone, smiling when the customers gave him a thumbs up. He looked behind him to where Nicole tuned the guitar, giving him a thumbs up when she was done. He looked back at the crowd excitedly, “Folks, it's been a while since we’ve had live music here at the cafe. Without wasting anymore time I present to you Purgatory’s notorious rebellious redhead.”

Nicole walked up to the mic as everyone started clapping, “Bare with me, I am a bit rusty.” She took a deep breath and began tapping her foot to a beat.

“ _ Have you got color in your cheeks? _

_ Do you ever get that fear that you can't shift the type _

_ That sticks around like summat in your teeth? _

_ Are there some aces up your sleeve? _

_ Have you no idea that you're in deep? _

_ I've dreamt about you nearly every night this week _

_ How many secrets can you keep? _

_ 'Cause there's this tune I found _

_ That makes me think of you somehow and I play it on repeat _

_ Until I fall asleep, spillin' drinks on my settee _ ”

As Nicole kept signing her eyes kept landing on Waverly, she felt nervous. She hadn’t been this nervous in a long while, god she hoped she wouldn’t mess up in front of her friend.

“ _ If this feelin' flows both ways? _

_ Sad to see you go _

_ Was sorta hopin' that you'd stay _

_ Baby, we both know _

_ That the nights were mainly made _

_ For sayin' things that you can't say tomorrow day _ ”

\------------

“You look happy,” Nedley said as Nicole walked into the house. “Did you finally hang out with some friends?” He gave her a kind smile.

“Yeah,” Nicole answered as she hung up her keys.

“Did you hang out with a  _ particular _ person?” Nedley egged on, as if he knew something.

“No?” Nicole slowly turned around to face him.

“So you didn’t _hang out_ with Waverly at JJ’s cafe?” Nedley crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“How’d you know?” Nicole sat down next to him on the sofa.

“One of my officers saw you at the cafe as he ordered a cup and left.”

“I wanted to get to know Waverly,” Nicole shrugged. Deep down she felt like she was hiding something and decided to deflect. “I can’t believe she had never tried JJ’s famous mufant.”

“Oh, poor thing,” Nedley cooed as he placed a hand on his chest. “She was living in the dark.”

“Exactly! I had to fix that,” Nicole stated as she looked at what Nedley was watching on the TV.

“So how did it go exactly?” Nedley picked up the remote and muted the TV.

“It was amazing, I had forgotten what it was like to hang out with normal friends.” Nicole couldn’t hide her smile.

“I’m glad, kiddo.” Nedley smiled back at her, “I’m happy you finally made a  _ friend _ .”

“Yeah, me too. She’s a good friend, very much unlike her sister.”

“Oh yeah,” Nedley chuckled. “Those girls are like oil and water. Very different.”

Nicole looked at her hands and fidgeted with them, “And I sang.”

“You sang?!” Nedley's eyes went wide, “Well, I’ll be darned. You haven't sung since the incident.”

“Hey, Ned?” Nicole looked at him.

“Yes?” Nedley asked, noticing something had changed in Nicole’s tone and he hoped it wasn't because he had brought up the memories.

Nicole couldn’t wait to ask any longer, “Have you put the bike through its limits?”

“Nicole, no. I know what you are thinking and the answer is no.”

——————

Nicole half paid attention to the physics lecture. Mr. Rightnar had been droning on about a lonely rover that had been sent to Mars and celebrated its birthday by itself. He was in the middle of searching for a video of the rover when her classmate to her right got up and switched seats with someone.

The room was very dim and Nicole couldn't care less who switched seats in order to sit down next to her. That was until the person started bugging her.

“What do you want?!” She hiss whispered, not taking her eyes off the video that was playing.

“Hmm?,” The other person hummed.

“I said, what do you want?” Nicole hissed and turned to face the other person.

“You know I like my women feisty,” Shae teased.

“You still didn’t answer my question.” Nicole returned her attention back to the video. She had grown tired of Shae’s antics and of her personality.

“And you never answered mine,” Shae replied smugly.

“What did you ask?”

“If you were coming to Champ’s party this weekend.” Shae flashed a devilish smile at her.

“I’m still thinking about it,” Nicole shrugged.

Shae leaned close to her ear, mere centimeters away from it. “Come on, Haught,” Shae whispered as she placed a hand on the back of her neck.

“Shae,” Nicole breathed out. “Fine, I’ll tell you after class.”

“Hmm. Good.” Shae pulled away and walked back to her original desk. Mr. Rightnar glanced between Shae and Nicole, but didn’t dare say anything. He couldn’t, really. They both drew a tie at being the top student in this class. Nicole shrugged at him and continued to watch the video about the rover.

\-- -- -- --

“So what's your answer, Haught?” Shae asked, rounding the table as Nicole placed her stuff in her backpack.

“I’ll go.” Nicole looked up at Shae as she closed her backpack, “Just text me the address.”

Nicole didn’t give Shae a moment to reply as she walked out of the classroom, adjusting her backpack strap as she walked into the hallway.

“Nicole.” Shae grabbed a part of her jacket. Nicole would have slammed against Shae if she hadn’t haphazardly thrown up her hand at the space next to Shae’s head.

“You can’t grab people like that,” Nicole replied angrily. “I could’ve hurt someone unintentionally.”

“You left without letting me reply.” Shae placed a hand on the lapel of Nicole’s jacket, “And I don’t like getting blue balled.”

Nicole rubbed her temple with her free hand, “Shae, I need to get to class on time.”

“I was thinking we could hang out today?” Shae smirked at her as she began playing with the lapels of her jacket, “After school of course.”

Nicole removed her hand from the locker and stopped one of Shae’s hands from playing with her lapel, “You could have just matched my speed and asked like a normal person.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” Shae pouted.

“It’s called common sense.”

“Come on, Haught. Hang out with me after school?” Shae persisted on.

“Shae, I have a lot of homework to do.” Nicole let out a heavy sigh, “And I have an important thing to get ready for.”

“Can’t you make time for a friend?” Shae finally let go of her jacket.

“I already have-”

“Great, then I’ll see you after school,” Shae didn’t let her finish, disappearing into the crowd.

“You weren’t that friend,” Nicole mumbled to herself, bringing a hand up to her backpack strap.

\------------

Waverly was excited that Nicole had asked her to hang out again. She thought herself to be selfish that she was spending time alone with Nicole. Yes, she still was set on diminishing her feelings for the redhead, but that was not the point here. Waverly could hopefully now try to see her as a friend if they continued to hang out as such. She had already learned her lesson with her and Champ’s relationship to not fall that fast for someone. She didn’t believe the rumors about him cheating on her, even from her own sister. It had come to the point where Waverly had given her sister the cold treatment for a month until she had caught him in the act one day. She showed up to his house to surprise him a day before his birthday. His mother let her in and told her that Champ had another friend of his over and that they were in his room. That day she ran home so fast that she was sure that her freshman physical education teacher would have been proud of her record time. She hadn’t caught a glimpse of who the girl was and she couldn’t care less about who it was, she was somewhat thankful to her or she would have held a grudge and Wynonna would have probably done something rash.

The memory played out in her head as she walked to her next class. She came to when she heard what sounded like a body slam on a locker. Looking up she saw Nicole hovering inches away from Shae. She stood there dazed for a moment before she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Waves,” Jeremy said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, moving to look at her face. “Something wrong?”

Waverly didn’t answer, she couldn’t bring herself to answer. The words got caught in her throat. The only thing she could do was point at the scene in front of them.

Jeremy's eyes followed to where she had pointed a soft shocked gasp of ‘Oh fuck’ escaped his lips before his eyes returned to look at her. “Come on. It’s probably Shae being Shae.”

Waverly shrugged her shoulders, Shae was known for infamous plays like this. And Nicole seemed annoyed, so maybe it was a play, at least she hoped and it wasn’t like they were having lovers quarrel. She mentally cursed herself, though she had admitted to liking Nicole it still didn’t mean that she was having a simple time navigating through it.

\------------

The day had gone relatively fast for Waverly. She was a bit disappointed when Nicole hadn’t joined them at lunch, though she had waved to Waverly before heading into the library. Waverly had to admit that even if it was an insignificant gesture, but it somehow gave her a bit of reassurance that what she had witnessed earlier had been just a play from Shae. Waverly excitedly walked to her locker room to drop off her book before she headed to where Nicole usually parked her motorcycle after the bell dismissed them to go home. She was excited to see where else Nicole would take her. She thought she knew everything there was in Purgatory, but Nicole proved her wrong.

Her smile faltered when she saw that Nicole already had a passenger on her bike. The redhead looked at her and gave her a sad, lopsided smile before looking back down at her phone and quickly typing something out and pocketing it away. As Nicole rode away, Waverly felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was a message from Nicole.

**Nicole:** _Sorry, raincheck?_

 **Waverly:** _Sure_

Waverly drew out a breath as she hit send. She waited a moment for a reply, but it never came. She called Wynonna and hoped that her sister hadn’t left the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourselves it's going to get sad from here.


	4. Smoke and Mirrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra long chapter that was inspired by "Illusion of You" By Jihae and "Like You Do" By Joji.  
> All mistakes are mine.

Nicole wasn’t in first period the next day. Waverly thought she was playing hooky with Shae, but that theory was put to rest when she and Jeremey joined Wynonna at their usual table at lunch and Waverly saw Shae sitting with her usual posse. Waverly began looking around waiting for Nicole to pass by and wave hello before going to the library, but the redhead didn’t pass by.

“Earth to Waverly.” Wynonna waved a hand in front of her face.

Waverly smacked her sister’s hand away, “What?!”

“What were you thinking about?” Wynonna asked as she rubbed her hand. “Or should I say  _ who _ ?”

“Nicole isn’t here?” Waverly quickly glanced at them before resuming her search.

“No? I haven’t seen her around. Maybe she came to school late?” Jeremy shrugged.

“The Ginger is probably playing skipping school with Shae,” Wynonna said as she opened up her juice box.

“That’s not it.” Waverly motioned to Shae’s table, “Shae’s here.”

“Why would Nicole play hooky with Shae?” Jeremy glanced at both of them.

“Haught ditched their date to hang out with Shae.” Wynonna took a sip of her juice.

“You guys had a date?!” Jeremy's eyes went wide.

“No, we were going to hang out after school again, but I guess Nicole hung out with Shae instead,” Waverly replied, trying her best to hide the hurt in her voice.

“Hanging out again?”

“Man, I really thought she was going to take you out on a date.” Wynonna shook her head.

“Not a date,” Waverly repeated. “We went to a coffee shop and Nicole gave a mini-concert.”

“Nicole sings?!” Jeremey exclaimed. 

Waverly bite her apple, “She does.”

“Coffee and a serenade. Are you sure that isn’t a date?” Wynonna said, sarcastically.

“It wasn’t a date,” Waverly groaned. “She said specifically she wanted to hang out and to get to know me bet-”

“Sounds like a date in my book,” Wynonna interrupted her.

Waverly smacked her sister’s shoulder, “How many times do I have to say it wasn’t a date?”

“Fine, it wasn’t a date,” Wynonna grumbled, soothing the pain in her shoulder. Man did her sister pack a punch today.

“She still sang to you though,” Jeremy shrugged, the smile on his face betraying his efforts not to appear curious.

“She didn’t sing to me she sang…” Waverly paused, why did exactly Nicole sing? “She sang to the entire coffee shop.”

“Have you tried sending her a message?” Wynonna asked.

“I have, but she hasn’t answered.” Waverly looked down at the table, “Do you guys think she’s mad at me?”

“Why would she be mad at you?” Jeremy tilted his head.

“Because I made fun of the mufant?”

“Waves,” Wynonna said in her big sister tone. “I think Nicole is the type of bitch to tell you up front that she is mad at you. She probably has something more important going on than school right now.”

“Probably.”

Wynonna gave her sister’s hand a small squeeze, looked down at her lunch tray then backup to Waverly’s face, “Wait what the fuck is a mufant?”

\------------

“Do you think the Ginger bitch is here today?” Wynonna asked as she closed her locker.

“Maybe,” Waverly shrugged as she handed Wynonna her textbook. “She still hasn’t answered my texts.”

“You think she’s okay?”

“Since when do you care about her like that?” Waverly looked at her sister up and down as if by doing so the answer would reveal itself.

“I don’t.” Wynonna shook her head quickly, “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant I care about her, but the way she…” Wynonna went quiet.

Waverly stopped her sister from walking away, “The way she what, Wynonna?”

“Since you met her you’ve…” Wynonna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. Waverly was going to hear about it eventually, “You’ve got more pep in your step.”

“I-I don’t understand?”

“Since you saw for yourself that the…  _ dickwad _ of Champ was cheating on you. You’ve rarely hung out with me and Jeremy. But the one day that Jeremy convinced you to go out with him in his nerdy way for the second time in a row, you met Nicole or at least bumped into her,” Wynonna spoke as she resumed her way towards class.

“That means nothing,” Waverly countered, opening the door for Wynonna.

“Yeah, and I didn’t go on and call myself Aphrodite for a while.” Wynonna walked past Waverly and looked at Nicole's desk, “Looks like Haught isn’t here for the second day in a row.”

“Waverly?” Mrs. Bunny called out from her desk. “I need to speak to you.”

“Oh shit,” Wynonna whispered. “What did you do?”

Waverly looked back and forth between her sister and Mrs. Bunny. “I-I don’t know,” She whispered back as she walked over to Mrs. Bunny. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Mrs. Bunny motioned for her to step closer and waited for Waverly to do so before she spoke, “I hope Nicole’s leap of absence isn’t affecting your group presentation.”

“N-No?” Waverly narrowed her eyes in confusion. “We were done with the skeleton. All we have to do now is make it presentable and memorize some of what we were going to say based on the bullet points.”

That was a lie, Waverly and Nicole haven’t even started the presentation.

“Great, glad to see you both are working hard even if you have personal problems.”

Waverly gave her a curt nod before walking back to her desk as the bell rang. What the hell did that mean?

\-- -- -- --

“What did Mrs. Bunny tell you?” Wynonna asked as they walked out of the classroom.

“She asked if we were doing okay with the project and I lied.” Waverly looked at her sister. “Wynonna,  _ I lied _ .”

“Calm down.” She hugged her sister from the side and gave her a reassuring squeeze, “It’s not the end of the world if that lie was told to the hard ass that is Mrs. Bunny.”

“She also said Nicole had a personal problem, or we both had a personal problem? I don’t know.”

“That doesn’t sound like Nicole.” Wynonna put her free hand on her chin. “I’ll be back.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly called out for her sister, but it was too late. She had disappeared within the crowd in the hallway.

\-- -- -- --

“Hey, wait for me!” Jeremy called out after Waverly as she walked out of the lunch line. Waverly stood there while Jeremy bought himself a slushie from the snack line. “Any new updates on Nicole?”

“I swear you and Wynonna talk a lot to each other for two people who don’t share classes together.”

“Damn busted,” Jeremy clicked his tongue and hung his head as they walked toward their table. “Has Wynonna told you anything?”

“No?” Waverly looked at him quizzically. “Did something bad happen?”

“N-No?” Jeremy avoided her gaze.

“Jeremey Chetri, look at me.”

Jeremy hesitated, meeting her gaze for a moment, “I-I think it’s best if you heard it from Wynonna.”

“Heard what from me?” Wynonna asked as they neared the table.

“I don’t know Jeremy isn’t saying a word about it.” Waverly glared at him before putting her tray down on the table.

“Waverly?” Something important had happened if Wynonna used her name.

“What?” Waverly didn’t want to know what would come out of her sister’s mouth, but she was more than curious.

“There are rumors,” Wynonna started, placing a hand over Waverly’s. “That Nicole and Shae are FWB.”

“FWB?” Jeremy asked. “What even is that?”

“I don’t know what that means.” Waverly looked at her sister, a mix of concern and confusion.

“Friends with benefits,” Wynonna breathed out. “And by the talks, it seems like it's a serious thing.”

That was certainly not what Waverly was expecting.

\------------

It was Friday when Waverly woke up to her phone ringing. Nicole’s contact flashed on her screen. She checked the time on her alarm clock before she answered it.

“I’m outside your door.” Was all Nicole said before she hung up. Waverly got up and looked through the blinds to see Nicole standing outside. She was staring absentmindedly at the door.

“What the hell? It’s three thirty in the morning,” She whispered to herself as she put on slippers. She slipped downstairs, making sure to not wake anyone up.

“Waverly?” Nicole asked as Waverly opened the door. Her voice sounded hoarse as if she had been crying.

“Yes?” Waverly asked, using the door to shield herself from the coldness of the night.

“I-I’m sorry I don't know where else to go. N-Nedley got pulled into an emergency case a-and I-” Nicole’s words choked in her throat. “I-I don’t want to be alone right now.”

Waverly stepped outside, closing the door ajar, “Do you want us to go somewhere?”

Nicole shook her head, a tear falling down her cheek.

“Where are we going?”

Nicole looked at her eyes, a silent plea of _'_ _ Please just come with me, no questions asked' _ .

“I need to change into something more suitable if we are going outside.” Waverly pulled Nicole inside, closing the door quietly, and guided Nicole to her room. She motioned for her to sit down before she went to the bathroom to change.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she saw Nicole staring blankly at her hands that were laying on her knees. She kneeled in front of her and gently grabbed her hands. “Hey, Nicole?” She asked softly. “I’m ready to go.”

Nicole nodded and never let go of Waverly’s hand as she walked out the house, stopping to let Waverly lock the front door. Nicole handed her the helmet with one hand.

“I think I might need my other hand to put on my helmet.” 

“Okay,” Nicole replied, barely above a whisper. Waverly didn’t miss the look on Nicole’s face as she let go of her hand. As Waverly put on the helmet, she heard Nicole mount the motorcycle, turning it on.

\-- -- -- --

They rode in silence to a forest just outside of town. Waverly got off the motorcycle and worried that Nicole might have gone on autopilot, driving them there. Nicole kicked out the side stand and looked over her shoulder at Waverly, quietly placing her helmet on a handle of the bike. Waverly placed her helmet on the other handle as Nicole held out her hand and waited for her to take it. This had been a shock to Waverly. She had mulled over it on the ride over, along with why Nicole didn’t want to be alone and why she came to Waverly. Did Nicole and Shae break up?

Nicole pulled out her phone and used the flashlight to guide them further into the forest, never letting go of Waverly’s hand. They walked on for a short while before Nicole stopped and let go of Waverly’s hand. She walked over to a tree and flipped a switch. Waverly blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change of light. Once they did, she saw that there was a tent and inside sat a relatively new looking couch with a picnic blanket a few inches away from it. The couch had pillows, and a neatly folded thick blanket. Above it Waverly followed the string of lights that lined the outside of the tent.

“I used to come here with my parents.” Nicole’s voice was small and vulnerable as she looked at Waverly. “Now I come here when I want to feel close to them,” Nicole continued, walking towards a tree and placing a hand over it.

“Nicole,” Waverly replied softly. She didn’t know what to say exactly, but she wanted Nicole to know she was listening. Something about this was the reason Nicole was gone from school and it sat heavily on her chest.

Nicole chuckled, it was filled with pain and sadness as she moved her hand over the tree again, “I still remember my dad giving me advice on how to carve perfectly into a tree with a knife. He said I was a natural.”

Waverly walked over and saw initials carved into the tree, but she didn’t respond.

“Nedley doesn’t know it, but I came here every year on their death anniversary. He just thought I avoided classes for the entire week when in reality I was here. I would stock up on a week’s worth of non-perishables and stay here before heading back. My roommate would cover for me when they did bed checks.”

“I-” Waverly began, but stopped when Nicole shook her head.

“It was lonely, but I felt close to them, you know?”

Waverly placed a hand on her shoulder, “I understand.”

Nicole faced Waverly, tears falling down her face as she pulled her into a hug, hiding her face in the crook of Waverly's neck. It stunned Waverly at first, but she soon began rubbing up and down Nicole’s back as the girl silently sobbed. They stood there for god knows how long until Nicole pulled away and walked over to the couch, unfolding it to reveal a mattress. She adjusted the pillows and blanket before laying down on it.

“Lay with me,” She asked as she stared at the sky above. Her voice was slightly hoarse as she wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

Waverly joined her, covering the both of them with the nearby blanket.

“I memorized all the constellations in the sky and I tested my memory every time I came here.” Nicole looked over at Waverly.

“Wow, that’s impressive. I only know little dipper.” Waverly mentally hit herself, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Nicole chuckled, this time it sounded cheerful and Waverly was grateful that she had made the other girl laugh. “I know. But what’s more impressive is that I haven’t sung since their death.”

“But you sang at the café?” Waverly turned her head to look at Nicole.

“Yeah, I know.” Nicole smiled at her. “There’s something about you that made me want to sing again.”

Waverly yawned then laughed loudly, “Oh god I’m sorry.”

Nicole covered her face with a hand as she laughed, “It’s school night and I kidnapped the star student.”

“Yeah, you kidnapped me,” Waverly teased.

Nicole smiled at her, then looked up at the night sky.

“How did your parents die?”

“It’s a long story.” Nicole’s face was expressionless, but her words were heavy as she deflected from answering. “You should go to sleep.”

“It slightly helps to talk about it. I should know from experience.” Waverly shifted in her place so that she was on her side, resting her head on her hand, with her full attention on Nicole.

“I was with my parents laughing inside the car,” Nicole paused and let out a deep breath. “Next thing I knew there were gunshots and blood splattered everywhere. Then I met Nedley at the station to give my statement of what happened. Then again, when I got into trouble with the law.”

“You’re a rebel?” Waverly teased, hoping she could get Nicole to laugh. “Who would’ve thought.”

Nicole laughed, “Hey I was about eleven years old thinking I was Batman.”

“Batman?” Waverly asked, laughing.

Nicole stopped laughing and shifted to mirror Waverly’s position. “Yeah, the sad truth is that I related too much to him.”

“Wait, you are a billionaire?” Waverly asked before she could stop herself.

“No?” Nicole chuckled and shook her head, “Maybe?”

Waverly missed the last bit, “Then that makes me a sidekick.”

“Well, no,” Nicole said in between a chuckle. “You are way cuter than that to be Robin.”

Waverly laughed, shaking her head to hide the crimson creeping on her face, “That explains your copious amounts of coffee in the morning.” She was going to smile before a yawn escaped her lips.

Nicole chuckled, “I guess you can say that. But we should really get some sleep. Can’t have you yawning in front of Mrs. Bunny.”

“Yeah, that would be terrible.”

\-- -- -- --

Nicole woke up, feeling a weight on her chest. She looked down and saw Waverly. The sight brought a smile to her face and a warmth that possessed her to move strands of hair behind Waverly’s ear, causing the brunette to wake up.

“Nicole?” Waverly asked as she stretched, shifting her head to look up at the redhead. “Nicole!” She exclaimed as she scattered as far away as she could in the bed.

Nicole laughed and looked at her shirt, “I think you might have drooled on me.”

“I did not!” Waverly countered. “What time is it?”

“Uhh.” Nicole pulled her phone out of her pocket, “Six o’clock.”

“We better get going if we want to make it on time for school.” Waverly turned around and put on her shoes. “Oh, my god!”

“What?” Nicole asked with her back turned to the other girl, slipping on one of her boots.

“I didn’t tell anyone I left my house at three in the morning,” Waverly replied as she tied her shoes. “Not even Wynonna.”

“Have you checked your phone? To see if you got a message from her.” Nicole looked at her as she slipped on the other boot.

“Speak of the devil,” Waverly said as she showed Nicole her phone, then answered it. “Hey, sister.”

“How’s it going, Earp!” Nicole shouted as she stood up.

Waverly glared at her, “No, that was nobody. I left early to work on the project by myself at the public library since it’s open so early.”

“I’m sorry,” Nicole whispered, remembering that they haven’t gotten any work done for their project.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Waverly hung up the phone and pointed a menacing finger at Nicole, “Wynonna will have your neck if she finds out you snuck me out at three in the morning.”

Nicole hung her head and placed a hand on her chest, “As my fate would have it, death by Wynonna Earp.”

“Shut up,” Waverly laughed.

“Wait...” Nicole thought for a moment. “You told Wynonna you’d be there, but you never said exactly when, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Then we have more than enough time to grab breakfast before we arrive,” Nicole beamed at her.

“Do we?” Waverly asked as she looked at the time on her phone.

“Oh yeah,” Nicole stated, holding out her hand for Waverly to take it. “Come on, my treat.”

“Are we just going to leave this here?” Waverly pointed at the mess that was the mattress and blanket.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nicole smiled as she opened and closed her hand, motioning for Waverly to take it. “I’ll come by later to fix it.”

What the hell is happening?

Waverly looked at Nicole’s hand, then back up at Nicole. She hoped Nicole couldn’t hear her heart beating louder than a drum as she hesitantly took Nicole’s hand.

\-- -- -- --

Nicole quietly waited for Waverly to finish taking off her helmet, holding out her hand. Waverly tilted her head in confusion and grabbed Nicole’s hand, skeptically looking at Nicole when she began laughing.

“I meant the helmet silly.” Nicole shook her head as she let go of Waverly’s hand.

“Oh.” Waverly went beet red as she handed it to Nicole. She stood there, swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet as Nicole placed the helmets in the saddlebag. Nicole motioned with her thumb to the door. They quietly walked on over to it, Nicole holding the door open for Waverly.

“I see you are back to your old habits,” JJ said as a greeting when he saw Nicole walking in behind Waverly.

“What can I say?” Nicole shrugged, “Some habits die hard.”

“What can I get for you girls?” He asked as he threw a rag into a bin.

Nicole turned to Waverly, “Do you trust me?”

“I-I,” Waverly stammered. “Y-Yes?”

“That didn’t sound like you do.” Nicole smiled smugly.

“I do,” Waverly stated more firmly.

“Great,” Nicole declared as she turned to JJ. “Let me get two Helluva Mornin’ and two water bottles.”

“To go or dine in?” JJ turned around and began pulling two espresso shots.

Nicole looked at the clock on the wall, “We have time so... dine in.”

JJ moved to the cash register and began ringing up their order, “That will be… twenty-four dollars.”

Nicole handed him the money with a smile.

“You know the drill, Nicole,” He said as he put the money in the cash register and handed her the receipt.

“Thanks.” Nicole turned around and walked to her favorite table, being thankful that it wasn’t taken.

“I’m not ready to hear all the rumors that will spread once when we get to school,” Waverly spoke out as she sat down.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, y-your.” Waverly frantically moved her hands. “Your uh… That I… How do I word this?”

“Waverly, breathe.” Nicole stopped one of Waverly’s hands from moving.

“Well.” Waverly let out a breath, quickly removing her hand from Nicole’s grasp, “They are going to say you are cheating.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow, “Why would I be cheating?”

Waverly looked down and folded her hands on her lap, “B-Because you have a relationship with Shae?”

“Now who said that?” Nicole laughed. “Because I’m not.”

“I don’t know.” Waverly’s head shot up, “Wait, you’re not?!”

“No.” Nicole shook her head, “The only relationship I have with her right now is as friends, though she has gotten on my nerves lately.”

“Here you go.” JJ placed two bagel breakfast sandwiches on the table, followed by two iced Americanos and water bottles.

“Thank you,” They replied in unison.

“If you guys need anything else, just yell.” JJ smiled at them before leaving.

“So…” Waverly began as she grabbed a coffee. “You’re not in a relationship with Shae?”

“Nope,” Nicole replied with a shake of her head, pushing one of the bagel sandwiches towards Waverly.

“The entire school thinks you are.”

“Well, I guess I have to clear that up don’t I?” Nicole winked at her, bringing the sandwich up to her face and taking a bite.

\------------

Waverly and Nicole walked onto the school campus together. Waverly had a small to-go box in her hands. Nicole had insisted that she get dessert, another mufant to-go, as a token of her apology for Waverly covering for them,  _ again _ . Waverly had explained that she didn’t need to buy her anything, but Nicole bought it for her, anyway.

“You have some explaining to do,” Wynonna said as she caught up to them.

“See you later, I have something to take care of.” Nicole was about to walk away when

“Not so fast, Haught.”

“This is important, Earp,” Nicole replied, taking a step backwards.

“Uh-huh, sure it is,” Wynonna countered, trying her best to cross her arms with her hands full.

“It is when the entire school thinks they’re entitled to know about your love life,” Nicole said as she walked away.

“Wait, so are you not in a relationship?” Wynonna asked as Nicole walked backwards.

“At this point they might as well say I’m dating the librarian,” Nicole complained as she threw her hands up in the air.

Wynonna shrugged and turned to look at her sister, “You on the other hand owe me.”

“Owe you?” Waverly looked at the backpack and math textbook her sister was handing her.

Wynonna grabbed the to-go box as Waverly put on her backpack, “Yeah, Gus would have had your ass if I didn’t repeat the lie you told me this morning.”

“Get your noses out of my love life! I repeat, mind your own business!”

Both girls turned to look at the redhead as she yelled into a megaphone. Wynonna bursted out laughing.

“I’ll give it to her. She has balls,” Wynonna said, smiling and shaking her head.

“She’ll probably get them to shut up now,” Waverly said as she looked at the time on her phone, grabbing the to-go box from Wynonna’s hands. “We better get to class.”

Wynonna clicked her tongue, “Not until you tell me why you were with Haught when you said you were by yourself at the public library.”

Waverly looked down at the box in her hands, “I can’t.”

“Oh?” Wynonna took a step back, “So you finally got it in with Haught?”

“Wynonna!” Waverly hit her sister on the shoulder.

“What?!” Wynonna exclaimed. “Why else wouldn’t you tell me anything about it?”

Waverly began walking to their first period, “Maybe because it was something personal.”

“Are we talking about traumatic and sad or  _ personal _ personal?” Wynonna asked as she followed her sister.

“It was personal, okay? Let’s just leave it at that,” Waverly said as she opened the door that led inside the building.

“So traumatic and sad.” Wynonna nodded her head, “Seems very on brand for the Ginger bitch.”

“Wynonna!” Waverly hit her sister again.

“With the amount of times you smack me in a day, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten in trouble.”

“That is because everyone knows you deserve it,” Waverly declared as she opened the door to Mrs. Bunny’s classroom.

“Ouch.”

\------------

Waverly had ignored her sister, throwing her little note balls while Mrs. Bunny was teaching. She tried to. To her defense it wasn’t her fault Wynonna had the worst luck, though she had gotten away with it for a while, but it all went south when Wynonna didn’t check to see if Mrs. Bunny was looking or not.

“Wynonna Earp!” Mrs. Bunny yelled.

Wynonna slowly turned around in her chair and cleared her throat, placing down the note she was about to throw. “Y-Yes?”

“Would you like to share with the class the content of what is inside those notes you are throwing?” She crossed her arms and tilted her head condescendingly.

Wynonna shook her head. She sure as hell didn’t want to read what was inside the notes she had thrown to Waverly. “Uhh… I’ll go with a no.”

Waverly mentally face palmed as she uncrumpled the notes that Wynonna had hit her with. What the hell was Wynonna thinking?

“I think you must have taken that as a request,” Mrs. Bunny stated as she walked over to Wynonna's desk. “But fine if you won’t read it I will.”

Waverly gasped. Mrs. Bunny should really not read these out loud. Her sister was really stupid. She could have just continued secretly texting her throughout the class instead of throwing notes.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Wynonna scrambled to place the small paper ball somewhere where Mrs. Bunny couldn’t see it. But it was of no use Mrs. Bunny grabbed her arm and just before she took it out of her hand, Wynonna used her free hand and shoved the paper ball into her mouth.

“Fine, if you want to do it the hard way.” Mrs. Bunny let go of Wynonna’s arm and walked over towards Waverly.

Waverly froze, closing and opening her mouth, but she couldn’t string more than one word together. “I.. No.. Wh-”

Mrs. Bunny picked up the notes that Waverly had previously unraveled and read them out loud. 

“Waves one She Devil zero.”

“You may have a chance now.”

“Waves if you don’t make a move right now.”

“Waves stop ignoring my texts and notes.”

“Waverly, come on, I still want to know.”

“So how is she in b-”

Mrs. Bunny stopped reading the last note and let out a scoff as the bell rang. “Wynonna, Waverly, and Nicole stay after class.”

The redhead's eyes rapidly flickered between the two sisters and Mrs. Bunny. “M-Me?”

“Everyone is dismissed except these three.” With those words, the rest of the class rushed out of the classroom.

“Am I going to get detention or?” Wynonna began soon as everyone was out of the room.

“No, that is an easy punishment.” Mrs. Bunny crossed her arms and glared at Wynonna, “You will write me a three-page essay explaining how your little ‘prank’ along and your actions have their consequences. It will be due Monday morning.”

“I would rather take a week’s detention,” Wynonna groaned.

“And if I find out someone else wrote it for you, then you’ll get a month's worth of essays to write.” Mrs. Bunny eyed her, “Now leave so I can talk to these two.”

Wynonna groaned as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and left the room.

“U-Us?” Waverly asked as she stared at the door her sister just left through.

“Yes,” Mrs. Bunny breathed out as she leaned on her desk. “I know you both are lying.”

“Lying?” Nicole tilted her head in confusion.

“The both of you have not even touched the presentation.” She pointed at them then returned her hand back to holding onto the desk, “I hope you guys can resolve… whatever is going on between the both of you so it doesn’t affect your grades.”

“W-We will?” Waverly replied hesitantly. She didn’t know that they had differences, did they? Is that what Mrs. Bunny was alluding to? Did she hurt Nicole? She couldn’t have because then why would Nicole entrust her with telling her something very personal to her. Unless Nicole is playing her, seeing if Waverly can keep a secret.

“I can assure you, Mrs. Bunny, that nothing is happening,” Nicole spoke out.

“Great, then.” Mrs. Bunny got up and cleared the board. “Now hurry before you are late to your next class.”

\-- -- -- --

Nicole was packing up her things to leave her last period. As she reached for her notebook someone grabbed her hand.

“You’re still going, right?” Shae spoke. Her voice sounded like she was angry and plotting.

Nicole played dumb, “Going where?”

Shae rolled her eyes, “To the party? We agreed you’d pick me up.”

“I didn’t agree to picking up anybody.”

Shae placed her hand on Nicole’s shoulder and slid it down the side, patting her clavicle with her other hand. “Well, we wouldn’t want your family’s secret to get out, do we?”

Nicole’s face soured. Here we go again with blackmail. “Someone doesn’t want to look like they were stood up.”

Shae smirked and leaned in close to Nicole’s ear, “At least I could play it off. You on the other hand...”

Nicole threw her head back, eyes closed. “Fine. Send me your address and the time the party starts. I’ll pick you up, but you better make sure I get my pay.”

“Good.” Shae pulled away with a smug smile.

“Pull that one more time and I’ll make you pay for it,” Nicole murmured as she angrily shoved her notebook into her backpack.

Shae scoffed, “Please, you lost all of your connections here.”

Nicole stopped closing her backpack and scowled at her, “But I am owed a lot of favors.”

“I’m the one with power here.” Shae crossed her arms as if that could even scare Nicole.

“That’s the thing about power…” Nicole said intently, her tone menacing as she leaned in. “I think I’ll just keep that secret to myself.” Nicole threw her backpack over her shoulder, stopping before as she got to the door. “I’ll pick you up at nine.”

“But the party starts at seven,” Shae replied as she grabbed her bag.

“I know.”

\-- -- -- --

Waverly waited for Nicole by her motorcycle. The redhead was taking longer than usual to get to the parking lot. She had been dwelling on even asking Nicole the question when she probably already knew the answer to it.

“Hey, Waves,” Nicole greeted as she put her phone away.

Waverly yelped as she turned around, “You scared me.”

Nicole laughed, “How?”

“I don’t know. You have a way of quietly sneaking up on people.”

Nicole clicked her tongue and scratched her chin, “I guess that’s true. But you are standing next to my motorcycle.”

“Well, um…” Might as well get on with it, right? “Do you want to come to Champ’s party with me?”

Nicole winced, “I would love to, but I’m already Shae’s date.”

“You said you had nothing with her?” Waverly hoped Nicole couldn’t hear the hurt in her voice.

“I didn’t this morning, but things change.” Nicole apologetically looked at her. She wished more than anything that she could tell Waverly the truth of why she was going with Shae, but she couldn’t. There was no way she was going to risk losing Waverly with her secret.

“Oh yeah. I-It’s that Wyn-,” Waverly chuckled nervously. “Wynonna thought you would come if I said the invite was from me personally rather than from her and Jeremy and me but you are already going with Shae so I guess that's still good because we’ll get to see you there and you’ll see how drunk Wynonna gets at parties.” Waverly realized she was rambling and stopped. “I’ll let them know,” Waverly rushed out and left, she didn’t want to embarrass herself even more.

\------------

Nicole had somehow convinced Nedley to let her use his car since he had the police car tonight and Nicole would not take the motorcycle to a party she was sure people would be drunk. She pulled up to Shae’s driveway, stopping at the gate. Of course Shae’s house would have a gate. She was a part of a wealthy family. The reason why Shae didn’t want to attend any private or boarding schools escaped Nicole’s mind.

“Who are you?” A man asked through a speaker.

“Nicole. I’m here to pick up Shae for the party.”

“Ms. Pressman is waiting for you at the steps of the house.” Nicole heard a beep before the gates opened.

Just as the man said, she saw Shae waiting outside of the front door typing away at her phone.

“What no motorcycle?” Shae said as she walked down the steps.

Nicole got out of the car and opened the door for Shae to get in, “No, I’m not taking my baby near drunken people.”

“For someone who now, likely, hates my guts. You sure are chivalrous,” Shae teased as she settled into the seat.

“Well, it’s all for show with you, isn’t it?” Nicole countered as she closed the car door. She would have slammed it, but it was Nedley’s car she was talking about.

“This is a job after all.” Shae smoothed out the wrinkles of her dress, looking at Nicole when she got inside the car.

“Is that why you are in this getup.” Nicole motioned to her dress, turning the key in the ignition.

Shae raised an eyebrow and smirked, “What? Can’t I look pretty.”

“I wish looks could kill because I definitely don’t want to be alive for this,” Nicole groaned, glancing over at the fountain in the middle of the round driveway as she made her way towards the gate. “New lights?”

Shae let out a hefty sigh, “Yeah, father changed them after I accidentally broke one.”

“How do you break a bright ass light on accident?” Nicole asked in between laughs as they waited for the gate to open.

“I was…” Shae paused and glared at Nicole. “That’s none of your business. But this job is so you better stick to the plan.”

“Right,” Nicole whispered, focusing again on the task at hand. “Pretend to mingle for a while, sneak up to the office after we get the green light to go upstairs, crack the safe, and then mingle with the party before we cut the lights. How long will it take you to disable the security system?”

Shae pulled out her phone, staring at it for a moment before answering, “About… ten to fifteen minutes?”

“You have gotten slow,” Nicole teased, trying to stifle a laugh.

Shae lightly smacked the back of Nicole’s head, “That was a joke. I only need five minutes.”

“Do you want us to crash?” Nicole growled, taking her eyes off the road to glare at Shae. “I won’t hesitate to crash this car.” She didn’t really mean it. Nedley will kill her if she does.

Shae shook her head, “I still see you are a dick.”

“Some things haven't changed since we were kids.”

Shae turned her head to face Nicole, “Let’s see if you still think fast on your feet.”

\-- -- -- --

Nicole offered Shae her hand, helping her out of the car once they finally found a parking spot, slightly far away from the house. Shae fixed her hair in the window's reflection as Nicole locked the car. They walked the rest of the way, side by side, to Champ’s house on the beach. It was relatively quiet, but you could almost hear the music.

Shae eyed her up and down, “Still don’t understand why you didn’t clean up.”

“It’s a party on the beach,” Nicole shrugged. “I don’t think I need to dress up for it, plus you hired me for a job. Said to look normal, this is normal.”

“Not for you, it isn’t.” Shae ran her finger on the lapel of her jacket. “You rarely wear these types of jackets.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that,” Nicole replied with a smirk as she opened the door.

“Shae is here!” Champ yelled from the beer pong table.

Shae pulled Nicole close by the waist, leaning her head on her shoulder. “Don’t forget my arm candy.”

Nicole pulled away slightly and gave her a smile. It would appear normal to anyone, but Shae would see right through it and know that she was ticked off. “I’ll go get us drinks.”

Shae stopped Nicole from walking away by holding her hand, “Cream soda for me, please.”

“Sure thing.” Nicole made her way to the kitchen. Two guys were there, opening and grabbing beers from the fridge. One of them noticed Nicole’s presence and pointed to the cooler on the floor.

“Sodas are in there.” He then pointed at the fridge, “I’m sure you already saw that the beers are in here.”

Nicole gave him a curt nod, thanking him, as she bent down and opened the cooler. She dropped the lid of the cooler and turned around quickly when someone slapped her ass.

“Woah there, Haught.” Wynonna lifted her hands up in surrender, “Just came here to grab a drink.”

Nicole let her hand drop to her side, “You really shouldn’t sneak up and slap people’s asses.”

“If I knew you would react like that, I would’ve ducked afterwards,” Wynonna laughed as she grabbed a beer.

“You shouldn’t be drinking if you are going to drive home later.”

Wynonna popped the cap and took a sip, “Why do you think I brought Jeremy.”

Nicole bent down and grabbed a cream soda from the cooler, “Is Waverly here?”

“Why do you want to know? The guilt settling in?” Wynonna raised her eyebrows as she took another sip.

“N-No,” Nicole murmured. Maybe Wynonna was right, maybe the feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach was guilt. It surely wasn’t for what Shae hired her to do, that had a justified reason, but she felt guilty for coming to the party with Shae and not with Waverly. She should have entered the way she did, but with Waverly.

“Yep,” Wynonna popped the word, walking to the glass doors that led to the backyard. “Well, sort your feelings out before you hurt my sister or you’ll feel an insufferable amount of pain for still leading her on.”

“Still leading her on?” Nicole whispered. “Wynonna wait!”

Wynonna had already left her alone in the kitchen, blending in with the rest of the people outside. Nicole shook her head and grabbed another soda from the cooler. In another reality she would have grabbed a beer, but she currently needed to stay clear-headed for what she was about to do. She gave a bit of thought to what Wynonna said as she made her way back to Shae.

“Did you get lost?” Shae teased, standing at the side of the beer pong table.

Nicole handed her a soda, “I would be lying if I said I did.” Of course she was lying. Shae had gone over the layout of the house many times with her.

“Nicole,” Champ called out for her. “Shae says you have amazing aim. Care to show me?” He offered her a ping pong ball.

She took the ping pong ball out of his hand and handed Shae her soda to hold, “You’re on. I bet your ass can’t even get me tipsy.”

“Is that a challenge?” Champ asked as he arranged his cups on his side of the table.

Nicole lifted a cup and looked inside of it, “By the look of the beer. It’s the cheapest shit I’ve seen.”

Champ laughed, “Sounds like you know your shit.”

“I do and more.” Nicole stared at him as she arranged her cups.

“We’ll see about that.” Champ closed one of his eyes and held the ping pong near the other one before he took a shot. The ball bounced off the rim of a cup, then landed inside of another one. “They don’t call me Champ for nothing,” He bragged as Nicole drank. 

“I’ll have to change that.”

Champ groaned as he missed his shot, “Shit.”

Nicole made a show of cracking her neck and knuckles, “Prepare to chug Champ,” She challenged as she held out the ball in front of her, aiming for the first cup, which is usually the hardest in her opinion. She threw the ball, making it bounce off the table and into the cup.

“First shot is always the easiest,” Champ retorted as he drank.

“Uh-Huh.” Nicole threw the ping pong ball.

“Better luck next time,” Champ said as the ball began circling the rim of the cup, looking like it wasn’t likely to go in.

Nicole smiled as the ball dropped into the cup. Her smile grew even bigger as she threw her next shot straight into another cup. She kept on scoring cup after cup until the second to last cup. As she prepared to throw the ball, Shae kissed her cheek. It took Nicole by surprise, making her shoot the ping pong ball prematurely, missing the shot completely.

As Shae pulled away, Nicole placed her hand in the middle of her shoulder blades and leaned in close, whispering. “That was dirty.”

Shae smiled as she lifted her head up close to Nicole's ear, “No, strategic, I can’t have you speeding through the plan.”

“I know Champ’s kind. They’ll want a rematch to fix their fragile masculinity,” Nicole said, loosening her grip on Shae. “Plus, it’s fun to see his face when he loses.” 

Shae patted her shoulder, “Hmm sure, but I still can’t risk you burning through the plan.”

“Gosh, there are rooms for this,” Champ groaned, pointing to the stairs. “Just don’t try to open the locked door.”

“Green light,” Shae whispered, pulling away with a smirk and facing Champ’s direction. “Thanks Champ, I will keep that in mind…  _ for later _ .”

Champ cleared his throat, “Now going back to prove I’m the king of this game.”

He took a deep breath as he prepared to shoot the ball.

“You’re going to miss,” Nicole taunted, holding herself up as she leaned on the table.

“Shut up,” Champ hissed as he shot the ball. The ball landed inside a cup, making Nicole drink the nasty cheap ass beer. Luck seemed to be on his side as he scored three more cups after that, missing the fourth shot.

“Aw cheer up,” Nicole mocked as Shae patted the small of her back, reminding her of their plan. She took a bit of time debating which cup was the best option, not because she was adhering to the plan but because she was actually strategizing to win anyway. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone familiar. As she looked up, she realized it was Waverly and absent-mindedly threw the ball, her eyes connected with Waverly’s as the ball missed the intended cup by a mere centimeters. Guilt made its presence known in the pit of Nicole’s stomach. She shook her head, trying to clear it of anything that distracted her from the job they hired her for.

“Nicole, drink up.” Champ’s voice snapped her back into the time abiding game they were playing. She looked down, finding the cup where the ball had landed in. She removed the ball and drank it. As she put the cup down, she didn’t see Waverly where she had spotted her earlier. She scanned the room to see if Waverly was still there as Champ readied himself and took another shot, only looking back at him as he groaned when he missed.

“Back to the mission,” Nicole mumbled to herself as she made a show of pointing and changing the direction of where she intended to throw the ball in. This continued as she deliberately missed shot after shot, pretending to mingle. Champ got down to the last cup before Shae motioned for Nicole to end it and that they had spent enough time there.

“Told you I’d change your status,” Nicole triumphantly bragged as Champ drank his last cup.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Nicole,” Champ dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Are you staying for a rematch or?” He paused and motioned to Shae. Her theatrics hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Nicole looked at Shae before giving her answer, “Truth is, I’d never planned to stay playing beer pong even if I won. So, you can stay and avenge your reputation by beating these other chumps.”

Champ laughed as the nearby competitors booed at Nicole, “Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

“Good game though,” Nicole said as she left the table and followed Shae.

“Do you really have that good of an aim as I remember?” Shae asked as she guided Nicole to the backyard.

“Yeah, I would have won quickly if we didn’t need to fake it for the sake of the plan,” Nicole admitted with a proud smile.

Shae stopped in front of the glass doors, “Remember pretend you are mingling for a bit more by yourself. I’ll come back for you once I’ve taken down the security system.”

Nicole nodded as she opened the door and waited for Shae to step out first. They made their way together to a fireplace where Wynonna and Jeremy sat. “Hey guys,” She greeted them.

“Nicole, you're here?!” Jeremy slurred his words.

“Guessing he’s a lightweight?” Nicole laughed as she asked Wynonna.

“Yeah, my plan backfired,” Wynonna groaned. “Turns out I need to be the sober one. Thank god Champ’s parents aren’t too pretentious to have a coffee machine.”

“Didn’t you have a coffee date with Waverly?” Jeremy asked, almost falling off the log that acted like a seat before Wynonna grabbed him.

Nicole looked around, trying to change the subject, “Where’s Waverly?”

Shae stood up and excused herself, using the cliché ‘I need to use the restroom’ line. She left a drunken Jeremy and sober Wynonna with Nicole, who had forgotten that Shae was going to do that no matter what group they had joined outside.

“Wait, didn’t you tell the entire school that you weren’t dating anyone?” Jeremy awkwardly pointed at her, then at Shae.

Wynonna lowered his hand, “Jeremy, I told you it’s not nice to point when you’re drunk.”

“So then it’s nice to point when sober?” Jeremy burped in the middle of his question, then looked at Nicole. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Nicole laughed at him. She had never seen him tipsy, let alone drunk. “Things change,” Nicole replied with a shrug once she stopped laughing.

“Oh, cool cool.” Jeremy snapped his fingers and made finger guns towards Nicole, “You a playa.”

“Nope, not playing anyone,” Nicole said in between chuckles, abruptly going quiet when she noticed the daggers that Wynonna had for eyes. She was saved from hearing Wynonna when Jeremy turned around and threw up.

“Come on big guy, let's get you cleaned up,” Wynonna said as she helped Jeremy to his feet and patted his back as she guided him inside the house. Nicole followed them with her eyes, but as soon as they were gone she stared at the fire, not really wanting to move since the sky looked so beautiful as the fire illuminated the area near her. She had been so captivated by the flame dancing that she had not noticed when Waverly sat down on a log next to her.

Nicole hummed with a smile, chuckling a bit when Waverly waved her hand in front of her.

“Thought you went to space,” Waverly joked as she placed a chip in her mouth.

“Nope,” Nicole popped the word, slightly shaking her head. “Just enamored with the way the flame dances.”

Waverly placed a hand over her mouth as she laughed, “Okay, arsonist.”

“I prefer the term fire enthusiast,” Nicole countered before looking at her with more intent. “So, Jeremy is drunk.”

“Yeah,” Waverly whispered. “He took it literally when I said he could let loose.”

Nicole scoffed lightly, “Sounds like him.” She dropped herself down to the floor, leaning onto her elbows, lolling her head to one side, and sent a teasing look Waverly’s way, “Awkward small talk is fun and all…” 

Waverly looked out to the water, then back to her toes buried in the sand, “Okay, then let’s play a game.”

“What game shall we play?” Nicole stretched out her legs.

Waverly noticed Nicole didn’t have her usual boots on. She looks back to where Nicole had reclined herself, “Like a get-to-know-you kind of game. Like…” Her gaze moves from Nicole’s jaw up to the house as if the answer lies in between the two, “Two truths and a lie.”

As Waverly looks back to Nicole, she’s popping a chip into her mouth, “I’ve heard of it, never played it though.”

Nicole leans forward, grabbing another handful of chips from the bowl Waverly has in her lap as she talks, “One person.” She motions with one chip towards Nicole, “Tells two truths and then one lie about themselves. While the other.” She motions to herself with the chip then pops it into her mouth, “Tries to guess which is a lie. If they guess wrong, they drink, but if they guess right… the other person drinks.”

“I’m the only one with a drink.” Nicole holds up the forgotten soda in her hand. She never noticed when Shae had handed it back to her.

“Then I say it’s pretty low stakes, no?” Waverly smirks, eating another chip.

Nicole sat up from where she had been on her elbows, a soft chuckle escaping her lips that Waverly takes as the acceptance to her suggestion.

Waverly breaks into a shy smile, nervous that she actually accepted her game suggestion, as she gives Nicole’s knee a tap with her knuckle. “Since I pitched the game… you go first.”

Nicole looks from Waverly’s face out to the waves, humming in thought. Waverly waited patiently, going to sit down next to Nicole. “Okay,” Nicole whispered, turning to look at her, a small glint in her eye. “I can fly a plane, I accidentally set a chemistry lab on fire, and I’m a black belt in jiu jitsu,” She finished, tucking her feet under herself.

Waverly blinked absently as she stared at Nicole’s profile. All three options were all pretty absurd for one of them to be true, let alone two of them. She can see Nicole’s lip curl up as her silence stretches on. Eventually, Nicole turns her head to look Waverly in the eye and lets a small clipped laugh escape her at what Waverly imagines she must have a dumb look on her face. Waverly shook her head and huffed in disbelief, “You brought out the big guns immediately.”

Nicole laughed and gave her an almost apologetic look. “I’m sorry, is this not how people play this game?”

“They mostly start with kiddie guns,” Waverly teased.

“Ah,” Nicole whispered, lifting her chin and leaning away in mock embarrassment. “Well, I don’t like to be easy.”

_ I bet _ , pops into Waverly’s head, but she stops herself from saying it. Nicole turns back to her, clearly waiting for her to pick out her lie. Waverly grabs a chip and shoves the whole thing into her mouth, considering. “Well, the obvious choice for the lie would be flying a plane,” Waverly thinks out loud. “But that would mean you never drove a car, which is, honestly, a bit crazy. And it would be pretty weird if you could fly, but can’t drive and I think you do drive a car from time to time, rarely that is. I might have forgotten if you did.”

Nicole hummed at her reasoning.

“But that would be an outlier compared to being a black belt in jiu jitsu. Which could mean you included it to throw me off?”

“Is that your ultimate answer?” Nicole asked, grabbing another chip from the bowl.

Waverly turned to her, hoping to find a clue in Nicole’s gaze. But Nicole had the best poker face she had ever seen in her life. “Flying a plane. That’s your lie.”

Nicole bit her lip for a moment, looking down at her fingers. “The accidental fire didn’t reach further than a single beaker. Though, it exploded. But that hardly counts as setting the whole lab on fire.”

Waverly feels her eyes widen and her jaw slightly drops, “The lab fire was your lie?!”

Nicole sent her a wicked grin.

Waverly stares at her, unsure of how to even speak at this point. She settles on, “You know how to fly a plane?”

Nicole nods smugly before explaining, “I took lessons when I was fifteen and a half and was fully licensed by the time I was sixteen. The boarding school set me up for all the courses.” She scoffed a little at that, as if she acknowledged how bizarre it sounded.

“So you do drive a car, rarely that we actually forget you do.” Waverly says it not as a question, more of a statement. It reminds Nicole how the two truths she said are unlikely for them to belong to one person, and they shouldn’t.

Nicole simply shrugs, raising a palm face to the sky.

“How did you even get a black belt in jiu jitsu?” Waverly asks, eating another chip.

“With enough discipline and hard work, you advance quickly,” Nicole deadpans, before giving Waverly a sidelong glance, reaching over and grabbing more chips from the bowl.

They sit quietly for a moment before Waverly presses on, “Was it hard?”

“Not really, they put me in it because of my…  _ glowing behavior _ . They had a lot of methods for discipline at boarding school,” Nicole shrugged.

“Why’d you leave boarding school?” Waverly continued, eager to learn more about Nicole, who could apparently subdue you in many ways.

Nicole looked over to where Wynonna had migrated with Jeremy to the cooler on the deck with water. She turned back to Waverly with a coy grin, “Food was awful.”

Waverly let out a sympathetic scoff at that. It’s another deflection, and she knows it. She learned about it in her psych class. She knows there’s a more significant reason Nicole came back and stayed in Purgatory to finish out high school. But Waverly also knows how it must feel to keep things private, to keep things light and carefree. If only for a little while.

“Valid,” Waverly chuckles, and lets it go. A comfortable silence falls over them. Waverly leans back and tucks her arm behind her hand in the sand, stretching her legs out.

Nicole gazes down where she laid. “Okay, it’s your turn,” She taps her own knuckle to Waverly’s arm.

Waverly looks up to the sky. She notes she can see how clear the moon must look. “I can lift Jeremy’s body weight.” She hears Nicole scoff and laugh next to her. “I like magic tricks, and I have a near photographic memory.” In her peripherals, she can see Nicole perk up at the last statement. It makes her think of the conversation she had with Jeremy and the reason she had qualified her statement with ‘ _ near _ ’. Waverly moves her gaze to Nicole, who seems to assess her.

“They’ve said photographic memory isn’t real.” Nicole scans her face doubtfully, trying to sniff out the lie.

“Would it help if I changed it to ‘extremely prolonged eidetic memory’?” She maintained eye contact with Nicole as she spoke, almost being able to see the wheel turning in her head.

Nicole narrows her eyes, then seems to come to a conclusion, “Well, for the sake of your reputation, I hope you’re lying about the magic tricks.”

Waverly lies still for a moment, then slowly sits up, scanning around until she finds a perfectly sized pebbled within the sand and casts a mischievous grin Nicole’s way. Adjusting herself so that she’s facing Nicole straight on from her knees, she holds the pebble in her flat palm to show Nicole. The other girl’s eyes lock onto the pebble, flicking up uncertainly to Waverly, then back to her palm. Waverly picks the pebble with her right hand and moves to place it in her left. She pulls the pebble back into her right hand as her left hand closes around empty space, managing a pretty clean vanish. She smirks when she sees that Nicole’s eyes are still glued to her left hand. Slowly uncurling her left fist, Waverly feels herself glow when Nicole grabs her hand to inspect it in disbelief. Waverly motions with her left hand for Nicole to wait. She snaps her fingers on her right hand. The pebble drops from her fingertips and she triumphantly holds the pebble up for Nicole to inspect it.

There’s a pause from Nicole. Then, “I hate it,” Nicole states while taking the pebble, her eyes wide. Waverly takes back the pebble, without saying a word, and tosses it back and forth between her hands. With the pebble in her left hand, she reaches to scratch her left forearm with the empty hand. Nicole’s eyes following the movement, as if trying to catch the trick. Waverly tosses the pebble to her right hand and, as she reaches across to scratch her right forearm, Nicole’s eyes following the movement, she performs a perfect french drop into her hand. She pretends to toss the pebble back to her left hand, then pulls her left hand away and reveals her empty hand. Nicole just laughs and shakes her head, looking up at Waverly in something  _ so close _ to amazement. Waverly unfurls with a very impish smile at Nicole as she slowly and deliberately leans in towards Nicole, causing Nicole’s throat to bob. Waverly reaches her right hand up near Nicole’s ear, her eyes locked with Nicole’s, and snaps.

Nicole hesitates before her hand flies to her mouth, already knowing what will be in Waverly’s hand when she pulls back. “No,” She says firmly into her hands.

Waverly lets out a short laugh, caught in her throat, slip past her lips and pulls herself and her hand back from Nicole, revealing a small pebble in her fingertips. Nicole loses her dignified composure for a slight moment and flails her hands in front of her.

“Oh my god,” She whispers as she looks up to Waverly excitedly. “I’ve never seen someone do it in real life, only on the tv or in videos!” The display makes a familiar flutter in Waverly’s chest, and Waverly laughs. She shifts her legs out from beneath her as Nicole presses her shoulder against her own and playfully pushes out her arm in an attempt to topple Waverly over. “I can’t believe it.”

Waverly allows herself to be pushed away, smiling smugly. When she gets close to losing her balance, she grabs hold of Nicole’s wrist to right herself. She moves her other hand to poke playfully at the other girl’s stomach and chin, as she would with Jeremy in this situation. Nicole responds to the light, tickling jabs with a surprised gasp, her fingers tightening around the spot they had found on Waverly’s bicep while her other hand pushes on Waverly’s chest. Something  _ extremely _ familiar and definitely not in Waverly’s chest erupts when she focuses on the contact.

Waverly chuckles and gives one last half-hearted shove to Nicole’s shoulder as she draws back, “Can’t believe what?”

Nicole rights herself with a big smile on her face. “Well, I really can’t decide who’s the bigger nerd. You for knowing how to pull off magic tricks or me for falling and finding them almost impressive.”

Waverly makes an indigent sound as a hand flies to her chest. She shoots Nicole an affronted look, “Excuse me?  _ Almost _ impressive?”

“Yeah, you heard me,” Nicole says as she looks off to the shoreline. “I said what I said.”

Waverly clicks her tongue, throwing a bit of hair over her shoulder. “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” She counters, picking up the pebble she’d used for her tricks and tosses it into Nicole’s lap.

Nicole turns to her abruptly, “So what was the lie?”

Waverly grabs a bit of chips from the bowl that almost fell off her lap during their exchange, “I can only lift three fourths Jeremy’s body weight.”

Nicole’s eyebrows shoot up, “Only? That’s  _ at least _ more than you weigh.”

“Slightly more,” Waverly wagers, glancing over to gauge Nicole’s reaction. She doesn’t miss the way Nicole's jaw tightens a bit or the way she blinks a few times. Satisfied that Nicole is at least impressed with that, Waverly is content to let Nicole carry the conversation from there.

Appearing to give up on that topic, Nicole switches to another. “So you do have photographic memory, then?”

“Near,” Waverly corrects her. “But you’re right. Prolonged eidetic memory is more accurate.”

“How long is prolonged?” Nicole asked, interested in Waverly’s answer in a way that Waverly couldn’t place. Almost gentle? Encouraging?

Waverly shrugged, “It honestly depends?”

When Nicole doesn’t prod any further, Waverly looks over. Nicole is evidently waiting for her to continue on her own.

“Well, it can vary from minutes to… weeks? Months?” Waverly explained.

“And it’s not just transferring memories from eidetic to short-term storage?” Nicole used vocabulary that Waverly didn’t know she used.

Waverly shook her head, rubbing her eye. “No. Perfect recall.”

“Huh,” Nicole whispered, looking off into the distance. The _'_ _ fascinating' _ goes unsaid, but is implied. “No wonder you're always the star student.”

Waverly laughed, “Not at all.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow at that, “Really now?”

“Yeah,” Waverly chuckled. “I only remember things I pay attention to and well… I don’t actually pay attention to much, if I confess.”

Nicole opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. She instead turned her attention back to the fire in front of them. They sat there quietly as they watched the flame dance about and flicker.

“I think I’m the happiest on a night like this with a fire going on,” Nicole says thoughtfully when the fire crackles.

Waverly smiles at the thought of Nicole being her happiest while sitting next to her. She thinks to reply, but before she could, she hears Shae’s voice call from somewhere behind them.

“Nicole?”

They both turn to see Shae approaching them across the sand. Nicole looks back at Waverly before standing up and picking up her soda. Waverly moves to grab the empty bowl of chips and takes the helping hand up that Nicole offers her.

“Did you find it?” Nicole asks as she walks closer to Shae.

“Yeah, this house is a maze when there’s many people.” Shae plays the part well, Nicole wouldn’t actually admit to it though.

“Well, I-I,” Waverly stammers as she remembers who Nicole came with Shae and not with her. Their whole time next to the fire was only because Shae was off doing god knows what. “I’m going to get more chips.”

Nicole wanted to say _'_ _ fuck it' _ and continue talking with Waverly, but Shae had come back and with her, so did the reality of why she was actually attending the party and what was at stake.

“Come on, Nicole,” Shae said in a low tone as she grabbed Nicole’s hand, tugging it a bit to make her walk.

Nicole gave Waverly a lopsided smile as she placed a hand on the small of Shae’s back, turning her head back to look at the direction which Shae was guiding her to. She could hear Waverly’s footsteps trailing behind them. She didn’t know why guilt settled in the pit of her stomach again, but she was sure it was going to consume her later for the next part. As soon as they made it near the glass door, Nicole pulled Shae to the side, pinning her to the wall, leaning her face close to hers. To anyone it would look like they were kissing, but Nicole needed Shae to hear her out.

“What are you doing?” Shae quietly asked, grabbing Nicole at the waist as she caught on.

“Ensuring our cover.” Nicole moved her head to the other side, placing an arm near Shae’s head, the fabric of her letterman jacket providing cover so that people kept falling for the illusion. “We need undeniable cover, don’t we?”

Shae moved her hands to Nicole’s lapels and tugged, making Nicole inch closer. “Who would’ve thought? You  _ are _ still fast on your feet.”

“Shut up,” Nicole whispered as she pulled away, grabbing Shae’s hand. Once they were inside, she slowed her pace so Shae could catch up before putting her arm around her.

“Told you it was going to happen!” Champ yelled from the beer pong table.

Nicole glared at him and flipped him off as they went up the stairs, letting go of Shae once they were out of everyone’s view.

“I’ll be on the lookout while you pick the lock,” Shae murmured before rushing to a door.

“Oh, you tease!” Nicole exclaimed as she rushed after Shae, hoping the others could hear over the music

Shae covered her mouth and stifled a laugh. “Please, tell me you don’t actually say that while you’re doing it?” Her question being muffled by the hand over her mouth.

Nicole glared as she kneeled, pulling out her tools to pick the lock of the door. “Just cover me alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shae dismissed with her hand as she turned around. “Be prepared if someone comes.”

“Noted.” Nicole felt around with her tools, searching which driver to press to open the door. It was taking longer than needed and Shae became impatient and nervous, tapping her on the floor.

Shae briefly turned around, “Can you hurry up?”

“I will hurry up if you stopped moving,” Nicole hissed as she finally heard the click of the lock.

“Are you done?” Shae twisted her head to look at Nicole once more.

Nicole stood up to her feet, placing her hand on the knob of the door, “Yes. All we ha-”

Shae abruptly pulled her in, placing kisses on her neck and pulling her closer by the lapels of her jacket.

“See, you are a playa!” Jeremy yelled out and pointed to Nicole.

Nicole pulled herself away from Shae, both of them looking at him. “Jeremy, you’re pointing.”

“Right, sorry.” He shook his head like he remembered what he had gone up the stairs for, “Do you guys know where the bathroom is? I know Wynonna took me there, but I think I lost her.”

“No bathrooms up here,” Shae answered him, snaking a hand around Nicole’s neck. “Now, if you’re done here…” She paused, taking a deep breath as she bit her lip. “There’s something I’d rather get back to.”

“Oh,” Jeremy mumbled, putting his hands up. “Right, shit… I’m sorry.” With that, he rushed downstairs.

Nicole removed Shae’s hand from where it laid on her neck, “Did you have to be a dick?”

“What?” Shae asked, smugly. “Don’t say you didn’t like it.”

“I didn’t,” Nicole hissed as she turned the doorknob. “Especially when you are an asshole to my friends.”

“Yeah, right. Like you are a part of their merry band.” Shae closed the door behind herself as she followed Nicole inside the office.

“Yes… I think?” Nicole said as she scanned the room, pulling out a beanie from the inside pocket of her jacket. Hopefully she didn’t wouldn’t come in handy in protecting their identity if someone came knocking. “I would like to think that they’ve accepted me into their group.”

Shae scoffed as she pulled out gloves from her pocket, “Are you saying that because you want to be friends with them or because you fell for Waverly Earp.”

Nicole’s jaw dropped as she put on the beanie, making sure she put all of her hair inside it, “What do you mean fell for Waverly Earp?”

“Here, take these.” Shae threw a pair of gloves at Nicole before she continued. “I saw the way you acted towards her, like the world revolved around her.”

Nicole shook her head, putting on the gloves as she walked to a desk. “That’s not true. She’s just a friend?”

“If she was, you wouldn’t have said it as a question.” Shae stopped rifling through a drawer, sighing as she looked Nicole straight in the eyes, “That would explain why you stopped looking at me like that.”

“I moved on from you, there’s a difference,” Nicole countered. “Where the hell is the safe?”

“Stop lying to yourself. You know deep down you have feelings for her,” Shae said, walking over to a bookcase to the right of Nicole. “Same thing happened before you and I became a thing.”

Nicole let out a frustrated grunt, closing the drawers in the desk with a bit of force. “Where the hell is it?!”

“Don’t get mad at the truth.”

“I’m,” Nicole paused and let out a sigh. “I just got so used to a ‘no strings attached’ approach that I’m afraid of trusting someone like that again.”

“Yeah, sorry about that… again,” Shae gave her an apologetic look.

“That’s in the past,” Nicole waved her hand around, “And like I said, I moved on from that.” She turned around and placed her hand on a painting, “If Champ’s anything like his father, then…”

Shae let out a chuckle when Nicole moved the painting to reveal the safe they had been looking for, “Guess the stupidity doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“You have to give him credit though,” Nicole replied while laughing. “He managed to be a CEO.”

“A cliché one, it seems.” Shae joked as she placed her ear on the safe and signaled for Nicole to hand over her lock picking tools.

“Guess it’s my turn to be on the lookout now.” Nicole handed over the tools before turning around and taking a couple steps forward. “Maybe I do like her?” Maybe.”

“Nicole shut the fuck up,” She grumbled. “There’s already too much sound for me to concentrate properly.”

Nicole put her hand up in surrender, though she knew Shae wasn’t paying attention to her, “Hey you opened this can of worms.”

“Seriously, shut the fuck up. I’m close.”

Nicole was about to let out a scoff, but she didn’t argue with her. Instead, she closed her eyes and paid close attention to her surroundings, taking in each sound and figuring out what it was. She was no expert of course, she sometimes couldn’t tell apart many sounds, but she would say she was at least an intermediate person. Intermediate because she would’ve noticed the thudding of footsteps before they got close to the fucking door. She quickly took off her letterman jacket as she rushed to Shae, crashing their lips together as she hoisted her up on top of the drawer. She hoped the person was inebriated enough so they wouldn’t remember what they were wearing. Shae quickly caught on and pulled Nicole as close as she possibly could, hooking her legs together behind Nicole. While Nicole ran hands on her thighs.

“Shit,” A familiar voice spoke. “Sorry, I thought my drunk nerd friend was here. I-I’ll just go.”

Nicole and Shae slowly untangled themselves as the door closed. Shae laughed as she got off the drawer.

“Stop laughing, it isn’t funny. That was Wynonna,” Nicole said sharply, pointing at the door. Being thankful that the room was dark, a bit light coming from a window.

“That’s why it’s funny,” Shae continued to softly chuckle, picking up the tools she dropped when Nicole took her by surprise. “That and your idea of covering our asses.”

“It was that or let them see our faces. Now would you rather get caught and sent to jail for attempted theft or have the other person be embarrassed they cock-blocked someone?” Nicole crossed her arms, making sure her question came out more of a threat. “Plus, you started it.”

“Actually you did,” Shae murmured as she resumed cracking the safe.

“Hurry up. I don’t want to do that again.”

“Shut the fuck up then,” Shae barked out.

Nicole turned around and leaned her entire weight on the door, not wanting to look at Shae in fear that she’d say something she might regret, emphasis on the might. It seemed like the universe was trying to punish her tonight, all the while trying to teach her a lesson. Her mind focused on what everyone around her kept repeating and the truth of it all, though it wasn’t the appropriate time, but she knew that. They were right; she did like Waverly, and she would finally admit it to herself. She liked how Waverly would make nerdy comments or how she would say random things that were interesting about what she had learned. She especially loved when Waverly would ramble about her favorite shows when they texted or when they were talking as they walked to their classes. She wanted more with Waverly. Hopefully she hadn’t fucked up her shot with Waverly tonight. She held on to a bit of faith she hadn’t, but if she did, she hoped Waverly would give her a second chance.

“Nicole, I said we could leave now.” Shae tapped her on her shoulder, then handed her the letterman jacket she dropped.

“Huh?” Nicole looked at the jacket before putting it on, “Right, let's go back to the party.”

“You were finally admitting it to yourself, no?” Shae asked as she opened the door and peeked her head out to see if there was anyone coming in or out of the nearby rooms.

“I would rather not get into this with you,” Nicole whispered as she followed Shae out the door, putting the lock on the door before closing it.

“Hey,” Shae began as she waited for Nicole to be at her side after taking off her beanie and shoving it in her pocket. “Vulnerability is a scary thing, I know. Especially with the shit we’ve done.”

Nicole let out sad scoff, “Yeah.”

“At least she didn’t meet you six years ago.” Shae playfully hit her shoulder as they made their way to the stairs, “Then, my friend, you would’ve definitely lost her.”

Nicole groaned, covering her face with her hand. “Don’t remind me how much of a little shit I was.”

“I’m surprised Nedley sent you off to boarding school and not military boot camp,” Shae teased, holding onto the railing as they slowly started descending the stairs.

“He was this close,” Nicole paused and pinched her fingers together, barely touching them. “To send me to a nunnery. He said the nuns know how to do discipline. I mean, he should know he attended a catholic school.”

Shae placed a hand on her chin, mockingly, “Sounds about right. They would have changed your ways with each slap of a ruler.” She took off her gloves and held them in her hand.

Nicole laughed as she nudged Shae’s shoulder, taking off her own gloves and shoving them into the pocket of her jeans, “I’ll have to admit it. You’re a pain in the ass, but you have your moments.”

Shae opened her mouth to make a witty remark, but someone from her posse pulled her aside. “Lights out,” She whispered, quickly placing her pair of gloves inside the pocket of Nicole’s jacket.

“Peace out?” Nicole tilted her head in confusion, realizing afterwards what was next in their plan. Shae shook her head in disappointment as she kept getting dragged away. Nicole mouthed ‘Mingling first’ before they dragged Shae to a group of other party goers. She headed once more to the kitchen, not wanting yet to mingle within the party scene or outside where she could stumble across Waverly or Wynonna for that matter. Nicole walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer, after all she deserved it.

“Hey, Nicole.” It seemed like Nicole had summoned her.

Nicole closed the fridge door and opened the beer with a bottle opener, “Wynonna.”

“Have you seen Jeremy? I went upstairs…” Wynonna paused and winced. “Let’s just say I don’t want to go up there again.”

Nicole laughed, “Yeah, I saw him before Shae pulled me into a ro-”

Wynonna interrupted her with an exaggerated gag, “Please never say that again.”

“And here I thought you were my best bud,” Nicole teased, taking a sip of her drink.

Wynonna grabbed a beer from the fridge, “Not when you talk about your sex life.”

“I thought you wanted a piece of this ass?” Nicole sent her a flirtatious look.

“ _ Nicole _ , I’m a promised woman,” Wynonna swooned, playfully nudging her with her shoulder.

Nicole pouted, “That didn’t stop you last time.”

“As much as I enjoy joking with you.” Wynonna downed the last of her beer quickly, “There’s a drunken nerd out there without a chaperone.”

Nicole chuckled as Wynonna left the kitchen to go find Jeremy, leaving her relatively alone in the kitchen. If the schematics were right, then the electrical panel should be in the garage. A hallway connected the living room, where the most of the party was happening, to the garage and kitchen. Nicole first laughed when Shae had shown her the schematics. Who would place the electrical panel in the garage? It’s like they wanted her job to be easier by giving her a quick exit if she ever needed it. She sighed and drank the last of her beer, throwing it into the recycling bin before joining the party again.

Somewhere in the living room Champ was doing a keg stand with a keg that randomly fucking showed up apparently, and one dude destroyed the beer pong table after he shoved another guy into it after accusing him of cheating. Yeah, that was the perfect distraction because the neighbors probably already called the cops. Nicole moved through the people, making it to the garage through the hallway. She took a deep breath before opening the electrical panel with a glove she had in her pocket.

“Cops!” someone yelled out from the living room, and suddenly everything erupted into chaos. Nicole waited a moment as she heard shuffling before she cut the wires of the electrical panel and everything went pitch black in the garage. Nicole pulled out her phone and used the light coming from the screen to guide her way to the door that led back into the hallway, turning it off when she was about to open the door. She walked in the kitchen's direction using the bit of light coming from the glass doors. Her intent was to go through the kitchen and run outside with the others, using that as her cover before she ran to the car and rendezvoused with She. That was until she heard someone heavily breathing from the inside of the pantry. Nicole pulled out her phone again and used the flashlight, trying to peek in.

Nicole gasped, “Waverly?”

Waverly didn’t answer her, she only tried hiding deeper into the pantry. But she couldn't because there was no more space. Instead, she kept hiding her head in between her knees, holding the back of her neck with her hands. Nicole opened the pantry doors. She tried to grab Waverly, but someone grabbed her instead and began dragging her away. She tugged her arm away from the person and rushed back to Waverly, noticing how she had closed the pantry doors. Nicole tried opening the pantry doors again, but Waverly held onto the handles as if they were a lifeline.

“Leave her there,” Shae grunted as she grabbed Nicole’s arm and began pulling her away.

“I can’t leave her,” Nicole said as she fought against Shae’s hold. “Something’s wrong.”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” Shae growled, grabbing Nicole with both of her hands. “The cops are here and they are rounding everyone so you better leave before your father finds you first.”

Nicole let go of the handles, which gave Shae an opportunity to forcefully drag her away, going through the backyard of the house that was across from where they parked the car. Making sure they avoided the cops who must have caught on to the fact that some kids were smarter than to leave out through the front.

“Why’d you drag me away?” Nicole hissed as they weaved through a clothesline.

Shae crouched down a dog house, looking over her shoulder at Nicole, “Because you have two pairs of gloves in your jacket that I’m sure you can’t charm your way out of even if you're the adopted daughter of a cop.” She stopped talking and peered over the doghouse to see if the coast was clear, “Now move your ass, we just need to get past this stretch to get to the car.”

Nicole groaned as she ran after Shae. The idiot didn’t have the keys she did, quickly unlocking the car and getting in.

“Take different streets than how we came in,” Shae said as she pointed to a street that led to another row of large houses.

Nicole did as Shae instructed, too pissed off to say a word.

“Really now? You’re going to give me the silent treatment?”

Nicole didn’t dare to look at her or she might kill her right then and there.

Shae sighed, rubbing her temple. “Look, I’m sorry, but we had to get out of there.”

“That doesn’t justify why you pulled me away,” Nicole murmured, taking a right.

“I know you care-”

“Care?” Nicole glared at her. “Something serious was happening, and you pulled me away. All we know is that she could have been injured.”

“She didn’t seem injured.” Shae sounded like she felt bad for Waverly.

Nicole stopped at a traffic light, “Still doesn’t justify your actions.”

Shae sighed, “Listen, she looked out of it.” 

“She was there when I needed her. Why couldn’t you let me do the same?”


End file.
